The Phantom Reaper
by Tricksterverse
Summary: After her first day, Ruby got the impression that her and Yang's probation was gonna be... easy enough. That was until other worlds, stealing hearts and Velvet Rooms with psychotic wardens got into the mix. What's a high school student turned Phantom Thief to do?
1. Let Us Start The Game

**The Phantom Reaper Chapter 1: Let Us Start The Game**

The Casino had been unusually noisy that night. More often than not it was a place associated with fruitless screaming and raucous laughter, but tonight it seemed to have gathered the attention of the police. They filed into the brightly lit main hall, quickly fanning out to cover as much ground as possible. The patrons of the Casino shuffled around awkwardly, not entirely sure how they were supposed to react. The police weren't much help in that regard, as they seemed to be more occupied with finding whatever it was they were looking for than assuaging the customers of their fears.

Suddenly, a streak of red passed over them, the customers crying out in shock and awe as this unseen form coasted by in the rafters above them. The figure streaked by, gaining not only the attention of the patrons but also the police. One of the suited men leaned down into his walkie talkie and said "She's here," before barking some orders to the two men standing next to him. As the police continued to extend throughout the Casino the red figure landed softly on a brightly lit overhang, the blinding light cascading outwards and exposing their presence to anyone watching.

They were female, and young looking on top of that. She wore a pitch black corset with red trim. Black tinted leggings led into black boots with red laces that ended just below the knees. A cavalier ran around her waist, holding a number of sniper rounds as well as-surprisingly-a grey cross. A blood red cloak hung off the girls shoulders, connected to the rest of her outfit by two small crosses similar in design to the one hanging from her waist. Her hair was short and black with red highlights, and fastened over her eyes was a red domino mask with black trimming around the eyes. A solid steel grey briefcase was held under one arm.

Upon seeing this woman in her full glory, many of the patrons of the Casino started to panic and run for the exit. The police allowed them to but made no move to follow, one of them shouting out "Up there! She's above us!" before the police scrambled about, many of them disappearing through side entrances and whatnot. The red cloaked figure didn't pay them any mind, instead descending onto a concrete overhang. She dashed to the left most side, tearing of the covering for a vent and shoving the briefcase through it. With that done, she sped across the overhang once again before leaping onto a steel gourney that overlooked the main hall of the Casino.

"Nicely done, Reaper, you've managed to get all their attention on you," a boyish voice complimented her over the small microphone in her ear.

"Indeed. I doubt _I_ would've been able to do it more convincingly myself," another voice added, this one noticeably deeper and playful.

"We've secured the briefcase on our end. Just focus on getting away safely," a female voice this time; this one was muted and serious.

"She's right Reaper, get the hell outta there!" an energetic voice shouted.

Reaper nodded and smiled, "I'm on my way." And like that she was off; leaping onto another gurney before hoisting herself onto the walkway of a large neon sign that hung over the main hall.

"I have to say, showing yourself above the crowd like that was fantastic! Excellent as always, Reaper," the boyish voice cheered.

"I doubt Warlord could've pulled something like that off," a new voice joked lightly, this one feminine as well.

Another new voice, this one quiet and pronounced. "That is because she lacks the proper aesthetics."

"What was that?! Raph, you traitor!" a lighthearted girly voice cried out indignantly.

Reaper rolled her eyes. "Alright you two, that's enough. We need to focus on the mission," she reprimanded as she leapt up to a higher vantage point. Suddenly, a pair of double doors to her right slammed open and three men in suits stepped out.

They caught sight of her almost immediately. "There she is! Don't hold back men; open fire!" he cried out. Reapers eyes widened imperceptibly as they pulled out pistols. Her eyes snapped forward, to a set of half circle structures that led to a balcony.

"Don't bother dealing with them! Just run away!" the energetic voice from before cried out. Reaper was quick to heed to their words, crossing over the structures and making her way to the balcony at the end of them. Bullets would ricochet off the structures underneath her, but none even came close to actually doing damage.

"I swear to god Reaper, if don't make it outta there safe I'll kill you myself!" a haughty voice shouted. Reaper smiled but didn't say anything, having already landing safely on the carpeted floor of the balcony. There was a set of double doors just ahead of her, and she started racing toward them at the command of one of her comrades. Unfortunately for her, the doors burst open and two guards stepped out. Their forms were hunch and they looked rather top-heavy, they also wore strange masks over their faces. A loud _thump_ from behind had Reaper turning around to face another guard almost identical in looks to the previous two.

_Only three shadows? I feel almost insulted,_ Reaper mused as a cocky smirk fitted itself to her lips. "Take em down, Reaper!" a new voice cheered, this one belonging to an energetic male. Reaper dashed forward, her form becoming a mess of red and rose petals as she sped toward the enemy. Just as they were about to collide Reaper suddenly changed direction, racing around her opponent in a circle. The shadow couldn't comprehend this at first, but he soon realized his mistake when he was lifting a good few feet in the air. Before the shadow had a chance to react, Reaper crashed down into them. An elaborate scythe was now in her hands, with the blade pointing directly downward like that of a spear. In the flash of an eye, the tip of Reaper's scythe was buried deep into the shadows chest, it's body now pinned to the ground with her standing atop it.

It was odd-well, to anyone that wasn't her anyway-when the body gurgled and disappeared entirely, as if it had never existed. Reaper twirled her scythe before sheathing it, turning her attention to the two remaining shadows. "Alright! I've found an alternative exit. Reaper! Behind you!" the same energetic male commanded. Reaper heeded his words, leaping backwards with an aerial maneuver and landing on top of a brightly lit sign. She gave a mock salute to the shadows before hoisting herself onto another balcony. Just like before, there was a set of double doors at the end. But these were already opened, and no policemen or shadows seemed to be walking through them.

Reaper dashed through the doors and found herself in the backstage area of the Casino, where concrete walls and ceilings were more common than fancy carpeting and roulette wheels. She was about to contact her teammates, but all of the suddenly her mic picked up some indistinct chatter. "...suspects...waiting outside… couldn't… still with us…" it sounded off.

"Huh? What was that?" Reaper wondered aloud.

"It doesn't matter right now! Just get out of there already!" a concerned voice cried. Reaper's face hardened and she nodded, bursting through a door into a small hallway. To her left looked to be a corner that would lead further inside, so she raced down that way. As soon as she turned the corner, she stopped abruptly and dove behind a nearby heater. There was another man in a suit standing at the end of the hallway leading up to the stairs, talking into his walkie talkie.

"I haven't been able to find the suspects here. I will continue my search further in," he reported before racing down the hallway. Reaper let out a sigh of relief as he stupidly passed her before dashing from behind her cover, making a beeline for the stairs. Once there, she sped up three flights of stairs in quick succession. As she was moving upwards, she passed by a small unit of guards which took notice of her. She cursed and kept moving, recognizing there was nothing she could do about it now. Emerging from one final flight of stairs, Reaper sped down a long hallway. As she did she passed by a long window which let her see into a surveillance room of sorts. It had a wall lined with monitors that displayed different parts of the Casino.

Reaper didn't pay _too_ much attention to this as she sped down the hallway. At the end there was a single door which she burst out of to find herself standing on a balcony that overlooked the entrance to the Casino. "Where's the exit?" Reaper asked, frantically looking around.

"What's the matter? It should be just up ahead," someone commented over the comms. Reaper looked up to find herself staring at an immaculate stain glass window that seemed to swallow up half the front entrance.

"Through there?" she asked exasperatedly.

"...That's just how it is," they replied uncomfortably.

"What's the problem? Will you not be able to make it?" the polite voice asked. Reaper didn't respond, her mouth tugging into a smile. The door behind her was loudly thrown open and the police stepped through.

"Stop right there! There's nowhere left to run!" he shouted.

Reaper turned to him with a cocky grin. _Oh Really?_ Then she threw herself over the balcony. The police gasped in shock, but Reaper wasn't worried as she touched down on the stone walkway extending from the balcony. She dashed to the left, running along the walkway as it snaked around the wall. Suddenly she leapt, plopping down on the windowsill in front of the stained glass window from before. Reaper turned back to the baffled police officers, the biggest goddamn grin on her face.

"See ya~"

Then she jumped.

Reaper crashed through the window, hundreds of pieces of colored glass illuminating her as her form crossed the glimmering moon. She spun in midair, her blood red cloak flowing behind her brilliantly.

"Geez, this showing off is completely unnecessary," the haughty voice from before accused.

"You're so reckless, you know that?"

"That's our leader for ya," the boyish voice snickered. Reaper's grin never faded as she started to descend, twisting in midair so she landed feet first before rolling backwards, lessening the damage to the soles of her feet. Reaper drew herself to her full height, staring into the dim Tokyo streets. Then, seeming out of nowhere, a spotlight turned on, illuminating Reapers figure and making her cover her eyes. More spotlights suddenly lit up until the front of the Casino was bathed in blinding white light.

"What the-These readings-!"

"Enemies!"

"And there's so many of them!"

"It's an ambush!"

"You can get away from these guys, right Reaper?!"

"Reaper?!"

"REAPER?!"

Her comm exploded with everyone's voices. She didn't respond, instead simply standing there facing them. "There she is! Take her down now!" the one she assumed to be the commanding officer cried out. Just like that the sea of police officers started charging toward her. Reaper shot forward to the right, sprinting as fast as she could toward a fire escape she could just make out in front of her. It only took her a few seconds to reach it, and when she did she catapulted herself onto the ladder. She raced up the prongs of the rusted thing, sparing a cocky smirk for the police as she raced up the ladder.

Her victory was short lived, however, as there were a cavalcade of officers sitting on top of the escape. "Shit…" was all she could manage to say as the officer brought his gun up. The butt of a shotgun _smashed_ into Reaper's skull, pain flaring across her head as she was thrown from the ladder into the ocean of police officers below her. It was pure chaos when she crashed to the ground. Boots and hands found themselves on every part of her body as they tried to detain her as quickly as possible. She would have cracked a joke about them coping a feel if she wasn't still disoriented from the blow to her head.

When it all finally stopped, Reaper found her chest pressed to the floor as an officer held her hands behind her back. From her limited vision, she could she a man in a suit approaching her. The police seemed to disperse as he walked, giving him easy access to her. He knelt down so they were more level, before he reached forward and grabbed a handful of her hair. "So we finally caught you, huh? To think all those crimes would be committed by a punk like this," he drawled as he drew her head up, Reaper hissing through her teeth. The man smiled at her, "You have your teammate to thank for this one. _You_ were sold out," he told her before throwing her head to the side.

"Cuff her."

And that was when the world knew. Reaper-the leader of the infamous Phantom Thieves of Hearts-was now in police custody.

…

She awoke to the sensation of cold water.

Her eyes shot open, and she took in a deep breath to try and calm her frayed nerves. Her eyes slowly scanned her surroundings, trying to stimulate herself as her mind slowly woke up. She was in a small, square room that was almost entirely barren. The only noticeable belongings were the chair she was sitting in, a camera in the top left corner and-of course-the door. Her head wasn't so injured that she couldn't recall the events leading up to this, but even still her mind seemed… foggy, for some reason. It was hard to focus on her surroundings, even as she recognized the presence of two other men in the room.

"So, you're finally awake," one of them drawled, making his way toward her leisurely. "Now… we can finally get _started_!" he exclaimed, kicking her in the side harshly. She was sent spilling out of her chair, her hunched form lying on the dark floor of the room. The man ignored her as she coughed and wheezed on the ground, instead walking back over to the other officer and taking something from him. It was a clipboard with a piece of paper attached to it. She couldn't read anything off of it from here, but she had a guess as to what it was. "Blackmail, defamation, possession of weapons… and manslaughter too, huh?" he paused and looked back to her, waving the clipboard in his hand.

"You really did everything, didn't ya'? And you seemed to be enjoying every second of it," he accused, walking over to her once more. _I was… enjoying it?_ She thought, her memory still a little foggy. The man was crouched down in front of her now. Unbidden, her eyes slipped over to the camera hanging in the upper left corner of the room. "What about the camera? Are you thinking it can be used as video evidence?" the man questioned, making it clear he had followed her gaze.

"I… I don't know what you mean…" she managed, her voice hoarse.

The man chuckled darkly and stood up. "Well you don't have to worry about that. We get to have as much time as we _need_!" he declared, punctuating the last word with a kick to her gut. She spit and hacked, trying to ride out the pain as it flared up in her torso. The man tsked and bent down, unlocking the cuffs that were secure around her wrist. She grunted and pushed herself to a sitting position, half expecting the man to strike her down for trying. Instead her got to her level and presented the clipboard from earlier. "Sign this. It's a confession under your name," he demanded.

"I understand…" she told him, unsure if he were waiting for her response or not. She was handed the clipboard anyway and the man drew a pen from his jacket pocket.

"Don't expect to get out of here in one piece," he told her, leaning in. "We're going to teach you that one must take full responsibility for their actions."

She didn't respond and took the pen from him. She skimmed the confession, making note of things like the crimes she was accused of. After a moment, she finally signed the bottom.

_Ruby Rose… that is my name._

…

Ruby had been in the interrogation room for about half an hour when she walked in. Surprisingly, Ruby was actually familiar with this person. It was a young woman with white hair and crystal blue eyes. She wore a white business suit and carried a bag under her arm. Her hair was done up in a bun and parted to the right side, though the loose hair the hung didn't obstruct her vision in anyway. She was a public prosecutor, if Ruby recalled, and her name was Winter Schnee.

Winter stepped into the room and did a quick look around, most likely taking note of the empty syringe still on the floor. "Bastards… what did they do to you?" she asked.

Ruby sighed. "Drugged me, beat me. Nothing I wasn't expecting, really," she remarked with a shrug.

Winter placed her bag on the table and sat across from her, a frown on her face. "Yes, well, I can't say I was expecting it to be you." She sighed, "Weiss isn't going to be happy to hear this…" she commented lowly.

Ruby looked to the side. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean," she states.

Winter doesn't respond and instead looks at her watch. "Unfortunately, my time with you has been cut short. I won't be able to interrogate you for as long as I wanted, so let's just skip the small talk and get to the point." Winter declares, and her gaze suddenly hardens. "When did you first learn about that other world? How is it possible to steal a persons heart? I want you to tell my everything. From the beginning."

Ruby looks straight into Winter's eyes. _Do I really have a choice?_ She wonders. All of the sudden the scenery around her darkens until she almost can't see Winter. Ruby looks around, confused, and is surprised to see a transparent blue butterfly coasting across her vision.

"_This is truly an unjust game, you're chances of winning are almost none," _a voice remarks, and it takes a second for her to realize it's the butterfly that's saying these things. "_But if my voice is still reaching you, there may yet be a way out. Remember the power that you awakened too in that other world, and the truth that you and your friends grasped. If you can do that, then you will surely avoid the ruin that awaits you if you fail."_

And just like that, the butterfly is gone and everything returns to normal. Winter is looking at her expectantly, "Well?"

Ruby smirks.

"Let us start the game."

…

It is a combination of the jostling of the train and her sister pinching her that wakes Ruby from her slumber. "Wh-wha?" she asks _very_ intelligently.

"C'mon sis, you gotta get up. We're here," her sister tells her, already standing up and stretching her tired limbs.

"Oh, yeah," Ruby responds sleepily, yawning and bringing herself to a stand. She is with her older sister, Yang Xiao Long, and the two of them had been on a train heading for Shibuya the last few hours. Ruby and Yang step off the train into the platform. Now that Ruby's mind was well and truly awake, she turns to her sister as she stops and stretches once more. Yang is so different from her that half the time even _she_ can hardly believe they're related. In contrast to Ruby's short, black hair with red highlights Yang had a long, thick golden mane that fell just below her back. Ruby was short and well-developed for her age while Yang was tall and… *ahem* very well endowed, to say the least.

"You okay there, Rubes? You're kinda staring off into space," Yang points out.

Ruby shakes her head and smiles. "Sorry. I guess I just… have a lot on my mind," she says vaguely.

Yang looks away and her smile drops just a bit. "I know… let's just try to make the most of it, y'know?" she posites, beaming at Ruby. She knows that smile is just for her sake, but chooses not to comment and instead turns her attention to the station.

"Y'know… I think you're right. This will be a good chance to see some of Tokyo," she says, ironically enough for _Yang's_ benefit.

Yang brightens and point's toward the exit. "Then let's go!" she cheers, and starts walking forward. The sisters arrive above ground and find themselves walking into the infamous Shibuya Square. Ruby was currently regretting having dismissed the rumours as overeggzageration; this place was total chaos. Having come from a small country town, Ruby and Yang hadn't been prepared for the frantic hurrying of the crowds that always seemed to be going somewhere. The loud honking of cars and people shouting at their phones in an attempt to be heard.

Ruby had known Tokyo was going to be a lot more busy than her hometown, but this is ridiculous! She felt like she was in a mosh pit, being passed around from person to person. After a few minutes of hectic crowd surfing, the sisters finally came across a place where they could rest. "Hey, you _do_ know where we're going, right Yang?" she asked.

Yang was searching the square. "Well the place we're looking for is in Yongen-Jaya. And that should be… that way!" she exclaimed, pointing.

Ruby sighed and brought out her phone, deciding to look it up in case Yang's _masterful_ direction skills couldn't find it. When she opened her phone, she was surprised to find a weird app on the homescreen that hadn't been there before. _The heck? Is this a software update or something?_ She couldn't help but wonder. The app abruptly enlarged itself, expanding until it covered nearly half her screen. The app had a logo that looked like a stylized red eye, and even though it was just an image, it almost felt like it was watching Ruby. She tapped it a couple times, and when that didn't do anything attempted to delete it.

"Hey, sis, can I-" she stopped abruptly when she got a look at her sister. Yang had stopped moving, entirely. And not it a _normal_ way, it looked as though she had been literally frozen in place. A quick look around showed Ruby that _everyone_ was like that. The pedestrians who had previously been racing down the street were now deathly still, with some of them even in the process of taking a step. Even the cars were frozen still!

"W-what's going on?!" Ruby asked aloud, clutching her phone to her chest and frantically looking around. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long before something happened. It was in the very center of Shibuya square. A large azure flame bursting from the ground and crackling lively in the air above. Ruby wanted to call out for help, or maybe alert the authorities, but she found herself unable to do anything aside from stare at the fire. Suddenly, the flame twisted and warped until it had died down to a more manageable size. Bringing her gaze downwards, Ruby noticed that there was a figure standing in the center of the flame.

Her breath caught.

That figure looked exactly like… her.

They were dressed differently-in a black blazer with a white turtleneck and black and red plaid skirt, as well as a pair of black leggings-but everything else was the same. This other version of her had glowing yellow eyes and a sick, twisted grin on their face as they stared back at her. They didn't say anything, and Ruby wondered if maybe she were supposed to. All of the sudden the azure flame exploded outward, cascading over the figure and rushing toward Ruby at an alarming rate. Ruby gasped and took a step back-

-only to bump into her sister.

Yang looked down at her oddly. "Hm? Is something wrong Ruby?" she asked.

Ruby doesn't answer, instead looking around frantically to see if she can figure out what the hell just happened. Everything seems to have returned to normal. The other people are walking again, the cars are speeding down the lane, and there's not a single flame to be found, blue or otherwise. She turns back to Yang. "What-did you just-?" she pauses and leads off. Did she _really_ need to tell Yang about this. She was already so worried, and it seemed like everything was back to normal now, so what was the point? For a moment Ruby thinks about how she would even explain such a surreal experience to Yang. Before long long she realizes she just can't.

"Hey, Ruby… are you okay?" Yang asks again, fixing Ruby with the same odd look.

Ruby looks down at her phone, and more specifically the weird app that was still there.

"It's fine," she says, deletes the app, and keeps walking.

…

It took them a little while to get to the backstreets of Yongen-Jaya, and a little while longer to find where they needed to go. They had naturally started by finding the home address of their guardian, but after a little talk with the mailman they had been informed that they usually spent all day at the business they own. Ruby and Yang were standing outside of said business right now, looking at it with a… skeptical eye, to say the least.

"'Fall Haven', huh? Our new guardian owns a Host club?" Yang questioned skeptically. Ruby didn't blame her. As much as she wanted to give this person the benefit of the doubt, host clubs were infamous for a reason. And the owner of a host club taking in two young, pretty girls?

She'd be lying if she said it wasn't cause for concern.

Ruby turned to Yang and attempted a smile. "Let's not be so quick to judge. I mean we don't even know anything about this person," she pointed out, trying to stay positive.

Yang was silent for a moment, making Ruby suddenly feel a lot less confident. "Well, I want to sleep in a bed tonight and I'm not exactly getting any closer to that by standing here, right?" she asked rhetorically. Ruby shrugged and stepped forward, opening the door and stepping inside.

Her first impression of the _Fall Haven Host Club_ was honestly… better than she expected. It was a restaurant of medium size in the shape of a square. A number of booths lined the back and left wall, while a few scattered tables could be found in the center of the place. Off to the right of the quaint host club was a small bar with about five stools. The whole place was carved out of some sort of porcelain looking wood that gave it a weirdly homely vibe.

"Wow… this is honestly pretty nice," Yang commented as she walked in the door. Ruby couldn't help but agree.

"Is there anything else you would like me to get for you?" a playful and sultry voice asked off to the side. Ruby and Yang turned their attention to it, and found an older woman standing beside a booth with a pitcher of tea held up. She had lustroes, raven black hair that ended a little above her neck, parted to cover her left eye. She had golden ember eyes and wore a long red dress that ended at her ankles. Her right arm was covered almost entirely with a transparent black glove while her left wasn't even visible because of the dresses flowing sleeve. Ruby thought she was very pretty, and if she had to guess would say she was a good deal older than them, perhaps in her mid-thirties.

"No thank you Madame. In fact, we were just getting ready to leave," the elderly man sitting in the booth said. Together, him and the elderly woman he was sitting with paid the bill, got up, and left the store, thanking 'madame' for the food and drink as they did.

The woman turned to them as she left, seemingly having taken notice of them now. She set the tea pitcher down on a nearby table and approached them, a small smile on her face. "Are you the sisters I'm supposed to be taking care of?" she asked.

"I'm surprised you could tell at first glance, but yeah," Yang said, speaking up so that she didn't have to. "I'm Yang, and this is Ruby," she explained, patting Ruby's head as she did. Ruby casually flicked it off and smiled at their new caretaker for the next year.

She smiled back. "Nice to meet you both. I'm Cinder Fall, though most people just call me Madame."

"I'm just gonna call you Cinder," Yang deadpanned.

Cinder chuckled. "I would honestly prefer if you did. I don't know _who_ had taken to calling me that, let alone why it stuck," she told them. Cinder walked over to the bar and reached behind the counter, grabbing a purse from there and slinging it over her shoulder. "Well, why don't I show you two to my house?" she offered.

"I-isn't your club still opened though?" Ruby asked, speaking up for the first time.

Cinder shook her head. "The other Hostesses have already gone home for the night and in case you haven't noticed business isn't exactly booming. I won't lose anything for closing up a little early," she reassures.

Ruby plays with her hair. "Sorry. I just didn't want to impose," she says skittishly.

"It's quite alright. Now then, shall we go?" Cinder offers, opening the door for them. Ruby smiles and nods, stepping into Yongen-Jaya's backstreets with Yang. Cinder exits and steps out after them, flipping the sign on the door to say 'closed' in the process. She begins directing them back to her house. Ruby has technically already been there, but she lets Cinder guide her anyway to be polite.

"So… um, Ms. Fall, you own that Host club back there, right?" Ruby asks, immediately cringing at how stupid a question it was.

"Indeed. I've managed that place for twelve years now," Cinder responds, likely just to be polite. She looks back at them out of one eye. "I know the fundamentals of your situation as well. You tried to stop a man from hurting someone and ended up injuring them accidentally. He sued you and now you two have been put on probation under my care," she explains, though Ruby isn't sure why. She faces forwards again. "Well… I suppose that's what happens when you meddle in the affairs of adults."

Ruby winces but doesn't say anything, and the rest of the walk is spent in silence. When they arrive back at Cinder's house, Ruby ventures to speak again. "I know I already saw this place, but I can still hardly believe you live here."

Cinder chuckles lightly and unlocks the gate leading up to the front door. "My business tends to do well," she comments offhandedly.

Ruby thinks that's a bit of an understatement. Cinder lived in a quaint two-story condo. It was painted red and had a rather utilitarian design. A balcony could be seen from where they stood, but other than that there wasn't anything to extraordinary about the place. That wasn't to say it wasn't impressive, though. Ruby assumed that Cinder lived alone, and even it if was just her and another person it was still pretty wild that they would live in such a relatively large place.

The three of them entered through the front door. To the left of them was a staircase that led up to the second floor while a hallway extended to the living room. There was another hallway that split off to the right and extended down a ways. Ruby thought the bathroom might be down there, and made a note to ask Cinder about it. "I'll give you the full tour later. You two seem rather tired so I'll show you to your rooms," Cinder offered, already standing by the stairway. Ruby was in no position to refuse and followed after Yang up the stairs.

The second floor was totally different when compared to the first. When Ruby emerged from the stairs she found herself standing in a large open room. Sitting in the middle was a set of three coaches which faced a coffee table that had a T.V. placed on it. In the right corner was a walk-in kitchen with a marble countertop and to the left sat a set of glass doors which lead to the balcony. A wide hallway could be found further along the right wall, and from where Ruby was standing she could make out a hard wooden door on the left wall.

"This is a pretty nice pad," Yang complimented, grinning.

"I do rather enjoy it, yes. That aside, I suppose you two are lucky," Cinder mentioned while pointing at the hall. "Down that hall are your rooms. And you _did_ hear me right; apparently this condo is meant for a four person family, so you each get a room to yourself," she explained for there benefit.

Ruby and Yang beamed at each other. "Wow, I guess our luck really _is_ turning around," Yang comments.

"No kidding. It would've sucked to have to share a room again."

"Your belongings also came in today," Cinder interjects, gesturing toward one of the couches. Sure enough, a couple of large cardboard boxes sits on one of them. One labeled for her and the other for Yang. "Anyways, I'll leave you to it. I'm sure you want to take your time getting situated and unpacking. Just remember that we'll be driving to your new school tomorrow to have you properly instated there. Try and be ready in the morning, alright?" And with that, she leaves.

Ruby and Yang stand there for a moment, finding solace in the brief silence. Finally, Yang breaks it. "Well… I guess we oughta get to it, huh?"

Ruby looks back to the boxes, an odd feeling of melancholy falling over her.

"...Yeah."

It was late in the evening by the time Ruby and Yang had finished unpacking. The room that she had settled in was actually pretty nice, if a little barren. It had a nice soft bed in the center and a nightstand next to it that she appreciated. The closet was on the left wall while a neat dresser lined the back of the room. Ruby honestly hadn't added all that much to it. Most of the things she had brought were clothes and other essentials. A few posters littered the walls now, but that was about it in terms of 'personalization'.

Ruby yawned and flopped back onto the bed, having already changed into her pajamas. She stared up at the ceiling, simply thinking over the events of the day. Honestly speaking… things weren't turning out too bad. Sure, there was that weird thing with her phone, but Ruby was pretty sure she had taken care of that. Even if she hadn't she could just take it to an IT store to get it fixed. Other than that, however, things were looking up. There caretaker seemed nice enough, if a bit distant. Though considering the circumstances surrounding her and Yang that was understandable. Aside from that, they had this new school to look forward too. Well, that may not _sound_ so great on paper, but looking at things logically this was a great opportunity.

If Ruby remembered correctly her and Yang would be attending some nice prep school. Objectively speaking, their small town high schools wouldn't have been able to provide them with the same opportunities as this place. Ruby always had a bit of an infatuation with sports, most notably track and field, so going to a school with(hopefully) a great sports program would be a nice chance to improve her skills. _Who knows? If I present myself well enough, maybe they'll even consider giving me a scholarship,_ she thought optimistically.

"_Well…_ _I suppose that's what happens when you meddle in the affairs of adults."_

Ruby shook her head as she remeniced on Cinders words. She rolls onto her side and grips the sheets tightly in frustration.

"What a fuckin' joke…" she curses, and she recalls the events that led up to her probation.

…

It happened coming home one night as Ruby and Yang were walking through their blocks backstreets. As they laughed and joked while walking down the road, something suddenly caught their attention and made them stop. It sounded like a woman's voice, and she didn't sound particularly happy.

"Please stop! I already told you no!"

"Who are you to try and stop me? Do you know who I am?!"

The exchange could be overheard by the two sisters as they walked down the alley, steadily growing in unease as the shouting became particularly desperate and panicked. "That doesn't sound good…" Yang says uneasily.

"Yeah, you're right…" Ruby leads off. Her face hardens and her eyes narrow, "If something bad is going down, we should check it out."

Yang pauses for a moment, then nods and takes off at a light jog. Ruby is quick to follow her, keeping pace easily as they follow the voices to their source. As they continue along, the voices can be heard much more clearly.

"Just get in the car!"

"I won't do that! I'm gonna call the police!"

"Go right ahead! The police are my bitches!"

Rounding a corner, Ruby and Yang are finally able to see what's happening. Two people stood in front of a car outside a bar. A distinguished looking man appeared to be trying to force a woman into the car, if his vice grip on her wrist were any indication. "People like you just need to shut up and let me steer this country!" the man shouted, pushing at the woman. Ruby and Yang looked at each other, an unspoken thought seeming to pass between them.

_We can't just ignore this…_

They nodded, and Yang crossed the street quickly with Ruby close behind. "Hey!" Yang called out, placing her hand on the man's shoulder. "The lady said she didn't want to go with you. You should listen to her," she declared.

The man whipped around, knocking Yang's hand off. "Bugger off you brats! This ain't a show," he declared rudely, though Ruby was already at the woman's side, prepared to protect her from any kind of attack.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ruby asks. The woman doesn't verbally respond, instead nodding numbly.

The man growls. "Impotent brats like you are what is ruining this country! You should know better than to interfere in matters that don't concern you!" he yells, gesturing at them wildly. He whirls on Ruby, to do what she doesn't know, but he trips over his own feet and falls to the ground, cracking his skull against the concrete. Ruby cringes, now realizing that the man is very drunk.

The man hisses and spits, rising to his knees as he looks Ruby dead in the eyes. "Damn brats! I'll sue!" he roared in rage.

Then the police came… And arrested _them_ for assault.

…

Ruby sighed and rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling once again. It was still hard for her to accept. She had only been trying to do what was right, so how had it ended like this? It was painfully ironic how the law that she was trying to _defend_ would end up punishing her for it. Ruby dug in her pocket and pulled out her phone, checking the time. "It's getting late… I should get some sleep," Ruby said aloud. She didn't listen to her words, however, staring at her phone as if she were waiting for it to respond. She sighed again and closed her eyes, realizing that sleep wouldn't come easy for her tonight.

She unlocked her phone, hoping it would distract her long enough for her to go to bed. _Huh? It's that weird app from before,_ Ruby realized, recognizing the strange looking eye almost immediately. It was a vexing sight. _Didn't I get rid of it already? _She asked herself, shaking her phone to see if she might've been mistaking. _Nope, still there. It's kind of creeping me out honestly. _Whatever, she decided. It was too late to deal with this right now, so she dragged the app back to the bin and deleted it. A yawn escaped her, and Ruby's eyes started to feel heavy. She was more tired than she thought.

Ruby reached over, turned off the lights, and soon drifted off to sleep.

…

Her eyes opened much sooner than she was expecting.

Something was… off, though. Instead of the sterile white of her room, the ceiling was a haunting shade of blue. The walls looked to be cushioned instead of the smooth concrete they were in Ruby's room proper. She sat up, looking at her surroundings as she tried to get a grasp on where she was. Feeling around Ruby realized that she wasn't sitting in the same bed as before. In fact it looked to be a large wooden plank fastened to the wall. It was kinda similar to the ones she had seen in… prison cells.

Eyes darting around the room, Ruby quickly took stock of where she was. An unsanitary looking toilet sitting in the back left corner of the room, and a line of bars kept Ruby locked in the small room. She stood up and approached the bars, grabbing onto them tightly and trying to look around. She didn't have to look long to find something of interest. An immaculate desk stood in the center of the room. Something sat behind it with its legs crossed and hands folded. It looked like a man, but his proportions were all wrong. His legs and arms were spindly and branch-like. His eyes were wide and bulbous and his cheshire cat grin seemed to cover the entire lower half of his face. Not to mention his weird nose, which stuck outward like a point far longer than any human nose would. It looked like a snout.

"Welcome Trickster. To my Velvet Room," he intoned.

"W-what? What is this place? How did I get here?" Ruby asked helplessly.

"Perhaps it would help you if you thought of this place as a dream. The 'real' you still slumbers in the other world, after all," a female voice announced to her left. Ruby started and turned to face them, having just taken notice of their presence. Standing outside of her cell were two girls, each about half her height, and standing on either side of her cell. They wore blue wardens uniforms with black cargo shorts. One held a clipboard and the other held a baton. Physically speaking they looked like identical twins. They both had bleached blonde hair bordering on white, and both of them had burning golden eyes. The two points of difference between them was their hair-which they styled differently-and the eyepatch they wore. One wore hers over her right eye while the other wore hers over her left.

The thing behind the desk suddenly chuckled. "Yes. This place exist between dream and reality, mind and matter. Only those who have signed a contract may enter here," he paused abruptly, looking directly at Ruby. "And may I say, you are already starting to surprise me. This place is meant to take the form of the users inner heart. To think it would appear as a prison…"

"W-wait a second! You still haven't answered any of my questions. Just what is-"

"Quiet, inmate!" one of the twins shouted, wrapping her baton against the bars harshly. "Don't interrupt our master while he's speaking, inmate! You will come to understand everything in due time!" she huffed out indignantly. Suffice to say, Ruby was sufficiently cowed.

The man sitting at the desk chuckled, and the sound reminded Ruby of nails on a chalkboard. "She speaks true. Our time here is limited as is, so take your time when coming to understand this place," he posited. "It seems we have gotten off topic. I have come here for a specific purpose. You have been met with a most unfortunate fate, and if nothing is done. You will fall to ruin."

"R-ruin?"

He nodded. "Indeed. To not worry, however, for there is still a way for you to escape ruin. You must be 'rehabilitated' toward freedom. By completing your 'rehabilitation' you will have grasped the truth, and surely avoided Ruin. _That_ is why I have forged a contract with you. My role is to guide you toward your rehabilitation," he explained.

Ruby was silent for a solid few seconds after his spiel. "I… have no idea what you mean."

Once again he laughed, and Ruby winced. "This is to be somewhat expected. As I said before, you will come to understand this place _and_ my role in due time. For now, our time grows ever closer to ending, so I believe I shall formally introduce myself. My name is Igor, and I am the master of this Velvet Room. My two wardens are here to help guide you in your goal," Igor told her, gesturing toward the two wardens. "To your right, Justine, and to your left, Caroline. I hope they will prove to be useful allies to you."

Caroline slammed her baton against the cell once more. "It's time for you to return to the real world, inmate! You'd better not fail in your rehabilitation," she chastised.

"N-now hold on just a second! You can't seriously expect me to-!" Ruby's sputtering reply was cut off by the loud ringing of an alarm. The noise permeated throughout the room, and Ruby covered her ears to try and ward off the loud ringing. Oddly enough, she felt deathly tired after hearing the sound of the alarm. Already she could feel her eyes starting to shut, seemingly off there own accord. _Wait… what's-?_

But it didn't matter, she was unconscious after a few more seconds.

…

The next time Ruby woke up, it was back in the real world. She sat up sharly, glancing about the room as if to make sure it _was_ actually there. After a moment of frantic searching Ruby sighed, shaking her head and throwing her covers aside. _What a weird dream. Ruin? Rehabilitation? What's it supposed to mean?_ Ruby wondered, sitting on the side of her bed.

There was a knock at the door. "Are you up now, Ruby? We need to leave soon," Cinder's voice asked from the other side.

"Yeah, I got up just a second ago," Ruby responded, stretching out her back. There was a satisfying _pop _and she let out a sigh of relief. She could hear the knob to her door turn, and Cinder stepped in a second later.

"It seems you've acclimatized rather quickly," she commented, glancing around the room.

Ruby smiled. "Well, it's helps that-" her eyes widen and she stops talking. It's only then that Ruby notices _it_. For a second she wonders how she hadn't noticed it before, but she can't focus on that fact for long as her eyes remain glued to _it_.

Cinder's left arm is missing.

Completely gone, as if it had never existed in the first place. The sight of it shocks Ruby, as during the short time she's know her Cinder had never seemed vulnerable like that. The grey jacket she wears over her shirt has been accompanied to deal with the fact. It's that fact which makes her realize why she hadn't picked up on it before. The dress she wore at the host club had a long, draping sleeve that covered the entirety of her supposed right arm. In retrospect it was a rather clever deception. Allowing her to present herself as though she had both arms, if Ruby had to guess it was because she didn't want to lose possible clientele because of her disability.

"You're staring."

Her eyes snap back to Cinders and she flushes. "Wah! I'm sorry! I just wasn't expecting-"

"It's quite alright. I know you didn't mean to offend me," Cinder interruptus. She smiles and leans against the doorframe.

"It just surprised me, is all…" Ruby says weakly as she looks down.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me. It's a little jarring for everyone," Cinder explains. "It happened when I was a kid. I was in a particularly bad car accident which resulted in me losing this and my left eye," she tells Ruby, her hand coming up to brush against the hair covering her face. "My father died in that accident as well."

Ruby tenses and keeps looking down, unable to bring herself to look at Cinder. "I'm sorry," she manages.

"Don't be. He was a vile man and I've come to terms with what happened," Cinder states bluntly.

Ruby flinches again and finally looks up. "I-I didn't realize-"

"Don't misunderstand me," she cuts her off again. "I'm only telling you this so you won't pester me about it later. _I'm_ supposed to be _your_ guardian. It would be rather backwards if you were the one worrying about me, no?" she joked.

Ruby isn't entirely sure how to respond. "...Yeah, I guess," she finally manages.

Cinder nods and stands up. "Good, then get dressed. If I recall your school uniform came in with the rest of your belongings," she posites. After Ruby nods, she leaves, closing the door behind her. After that conversation, and taking in everything she already knew about her, Ruby isn't sure what to make of Cinder. She shrugs, deciding to leave it at that for now and change. The school uniform she was given was actually fairly comfortable. Ruby didn't know too much about fashion, that had always been more Yang's territory, but she thought it looked fine. A black blazer fell over a white turtleneck. The skirt she had to wear ended a little above her knees and had a plaid black and red design. Black leggings led into equally black shoes.

Adding a bit of a personal touch. Ruby wore her blood red scarf around her neck. Now fully dressed for the day, Ruby examines herself quickly in the mirror. Not seeing anything wrong with her appearance, she nods and exits her bedroom to the living room. Cinder is standing in the walk-in kitchen, cleaning some dishes. Ruby approaches her and sits in one of the stairs facing the marble counter. Surprising her, Cinder places a plate of curry in front of Ruby. "Go ahead and eat this. It's the specialty curry we serve at Fall Haven," she says simply before returning to cleaning.

"Curry for breakfast?" Ruby can't help but ask.

Cinder smirks. "Don't complain, I'm making you breakfast after all," she points out. Ruby is about to deny she was doing such, but realizes that she'll probably just dig her grave even deeper by doing so. She lets out a sigh and reaches for the fork sitting next to her. Reluctantly, Ruby takes a small bit of the dish. There aren't any words said during breakfast. Not because Ruby doesn't want to talk, but because she's too busy wolfing down her curry to say anything. The texture is incredible, and there seems to be this hidden depth in the bold spiciness that makes Ruby want to keep eating it. As if doing so will help her figure out what it is.

She sighs contently as she finally finishes. "Ah~! That was delicious Cinder!" Ruby cheers, beaming.

"I would hope so. It's my host club's staple food after all," she snidely comments. Ruby chuckles sheepishly but doesn't respond. Cinder looks off down the hall. "Your sister still isn't up yet," she observes.

"That doesn't surprise me. Yang isn't much of a morning person," Ruby awkwardly explains.

"That doesn't even _begin_ to cover it," Yang announces, stepping into the living room and sitting down next to Ruby. "Who was the asshole that decided school should start so early!?" she asks crudely.

"The director of education, I believe. Now enough talk, eat some breakfast and then we'll get going. We're already running a little behind," Cinder explains, checking the clock on her phone.

"Right, right. Sorry," Yang says, grabbing a fork and digging in much the same way Ruby did. It was then that Ruby realized Yang hadn't reacted to Cinders missing limb when she walked in. _I guess Cinder may have had a talk with her last night. Or maybe Yang just hasn't noticed yet,_ Ruby consider, watching her sister as she ate.

"Oh my gosh! What happened to your arm?!" Yang exclaimed, having finished her food a moment ago.

_Never mind… It's definitely the latter._

…

One awkward car ride later had the trio standing outside of Beacon Academy, the school Yang and Ruby would be attending during their year on probation. It was a rather bland building. A three-floored structure comprised of three main buildings with a courtyard connecting them all. Honestly, it reminded Ruby of a prison. Her, Cinder and Yang were gathered at the school gate right now, about to head in and meet with the faculty.

"I want you two to listen to me for a second. This is important," Cinder suddenly said, stopping and turning to them. Ruby and Yang paused and turned to her, curious as to what she meant. Cinder's gaze hardened. "I may be your guardian for the next year, but I won't hesitate to kick you out if you cause any trouble. Try to keep your heads down and just get through the year. Once that's done, your probation will be lifted and you'll be free to do whatever you want," Cinder paused briefly, resting her hand on her hip. "I don't really care what you do all that much, so long as you don't involve me in it somehow." She shakes her head and looks to the school "Alright, I believe my point's been made. Let's get this over with," she declared, walking up the steps to the school.

Ruby and Yang reluctantly follow, entering Beacon and following Cinder to the principal's office. _Yeah… point made alright,_ she thinks sorrowfully as she trudges through the halls. Her words might've been blunt, but Ruby tried to understand things from Cinder's perspective. She probably hadn't wanted to take in two random kids, and if they _did_ get into something seriously bad it would probably hurt her business. _Still…_

Ruby shakes her head. For all her internal musing, she honestly doesn't know what she was wanting from this. Cinder was an enigma to her. Perhaps it was arrogant to think she would be able to understand her in so sort a time, but Ruby had always thought herself good at reading people.

They enter the principal's office before Ruby can think on it much longer. There are two people in there. One is a friendly looking old man in a green suit with grey hair and sits behind a desk, the other is a young looking woman with blond hair dressed in a white button up shirt and a black skirt. Cinder enters the room first and approaches them, leaving Ruby and Yang to stand off to the side awkwardly. The man gave them a clearly fake smile. "Well I suppose introductions are in order. You may call me principal Ozpin, I will be trying to make your transition to Beacon as smooth as possible," he told them.

"I'm sure you will. I'm Cinder Fall, in case you weren't already informed, providing for Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long."

Ozpin nods and looks to them. "I believe everyone here will be happy to know that this won't be a long meeting. I took care of everything regarding you girls schedules ahead of time. In fact I have them printed right here," he explained, producing two documents from a manilla folder. Ruby smiled genuinely and step forward to take the papers. Just as she was about to grab them, however, Ozpin pulled his hand back. "Before I give you these I want to make one thing perfectly clear. If you were to cause any sort of trouble at this school, you _will_ be expelled immediately," he clarifies, his voice hard.

Ozpin sighs and rubs at his eyes, his glasses shifting as he does so. "Honestly. Were we tempted to not even take you at all considering the circumstances surrounding you, but there were a few things in your favour. You should be grateful we're giving you this opportunity at all."

Ruby's lips form a thin line. "Of course, sir," she says numbly.

Ozpin's eyes fall upon her. "Ah, that reminds me. Regarding your classes, Ms. Rose, allow me to introduce you to your homeroom teacher," Ozpin says, gesturing to the woman standing beside her. As Ruby's eyes land on her, she notices that the woman appears very exhausted, and even has small rings under her eyes.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch. Though, if I may Ozpin, I can't help but wonder why _I_ was tasked with this responsibility. Wouldn't a male teacher be better suited to deal with such a troublesome child" she points out.

Ozpin just shakes his head. "I'm afraid that's just how things ended up. Yours was one of the only classrooms with an available seat. Speaking of-" he exclaims, and gestures to Yang. "_Your_ homeroom teacher was meant to be here today as well, but unfortunately Mr. Oobleck couldn't be with us," he explains.

"Will they not be in the same homeroom?" Cinder suddenly asks.

"We thought it would help them better perform is they were seperated," he explains, though why he thinks that, he doesn't say. He doesn't have to. Ruby isn't stupid, she can read between the lines.

"I see," Cinder remarks. "If all is well and good, might we end things for today? I have to think of my business, after all."

Ozpin nods and smiles, another one of his fake ones. "Of course. You may be going. Just remember to present yourself well tomorrow, you two," he says, gesturing to Ruby and Yang. Ruby stiffens but doesn't say anything, simply accepting their schedules from Ozpin and leaving the office.

As they make it back to the entrance Cinder lets out a loud sigh. "My god. I just met the man _today_ and I could hardly bring myself to stay in the office," she complains, resting her palm on her forehead.

"Feeling's mutual, believe me. I had to _force_ myself to keep quiet so I didn't blow up at the guy," Yang bemoaned, slumping over.

Cinder stretched her shoulders and turned to face them. "I supposed we should simply take solace in the fact it's over. Let's return home; you'll have it to yourself for the rest of the day seeing as I need to run the club." She glances over them. "I hope you can manage on your own. I would rather you not bother me unless it's urgent."

"Nah, it's all good. This won't be the first time Rubes and I are on our own," Yang reassured, waving her hand.

Cinder gives them a small smile. "That's good to know. I'm glad I can expect you to provide for yourself when I'm not around," she remarks. Cinder faces the entrance, her back now facing them. "It's time we got out of this place, don't you think?"

Ruby couldn't agree more.

…

They got caught in some serious traffic on their way home, much to everyone's chagrin.

"This is incredibly tedious. I'll expect you two to start taking the train to school tomorrow on," Cinder declares, taking a huff of her cigar. That had been a bit unexpected, but Ruby wasn't about to come down on Cinder for her smoking. Ruby nodded to let Cinder know she was listening. She supposed it was a good thing her and Yang already had a little experience with the metro since they would be using it everyday.

Cinder reached down and turned on the radio, a newman's voice quickly crackling to life in the small car. "_Regarding the tragic train crash that took place yesterday; nobody has appeared to have been killed by the crash but there are many suffering from serious injury. During police questioning, the conductor hasn't made any statements. However, it was released that he reportedly had a mental shutdown. Which leads this to be the most recent case in the strange incidents of mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns that has been plaguing Tokyo for the last three years…"_

"Mental shutdowns? What was all that about?" Yang questioned from the passenger seat.

Seeing as they weren't making any forward progress, Cinder turned to regard her. "I'm not the best person to ask. I haven't been paying too much attention to it, you see. But from what I gather there has been a strange series of incidents where people will randomly shut down or go psychotic for no real reason. Some of them have gotten pretty dangerous, too. Like the incident that newsman was reporting. Apparently the conductor of a train had a mental shutdown at the wheel. It crashed into the station and a whole lot of people got hurt. Though thankfully nobody died."

"That's horrible…" Ruby comments. She images what it might have been like for those passengers, helplessly watching as they were steered toward their possible death. She shudders and shakes her head, choosing not to think any more on it. "Cinder… If you don't mind me asking, why did you decide to take us in?" Ruby asks randomly, trying to distract herself.

Cinder takes a drag of her cigar before she answers. "I'm a friend of the family. I can't imagine I would still be invited to the holiday parties if I didn't help out a little here and there. I also happen to be getting paid for it, which is nice," she states simply.

Ruby and Yang can't seem to find what to say for a moment. "...Oh, I see," Ruby finally manages.

Cinder regards them with a smirk. "You needn't be so disappointed. My reasons may be purely self serving but I _am_ still taking care of you. It's not as if I'm having you sleep in the attic of _Fall Haven_ or something equally ridiculous," she playfully chastises.

Ruby feels her cheeks redden and Yang is quick to speak up, trying to defend them. Cinder playfully jokes back and the two of them start a back and forth as they drive home. Ruby doesn't join in herself, instead choosing to look out the window.

As she does, she imagines what would happen if one of the drivers had a mental shutdown at that moment.

…

"Wake up."

Ruby curls in on herself and mumbles something.

A foot taps her shin. "You already slept in. It's time to get up."

Ruby twitched but doesn't otherwise respond.

Cold water is poured on her head.

Ruby shoots up. "Hit the breaks!" she cries out, flailing her arms in front of her.

"No. I believe it's time to step on the gas pedal," a familiar voice calmly explains.

Ruby's senses are coming back to her now. She looks up to find Cinder standing at her bed, an empty cup in her hand. She's dressed in the same outfit she wore when Ruby met her at the host club, and a small frown is on her face. Reality comes crashing down for her. "Crap! How long was I asleep!?" she asks, frantically pulling herself out of bed.

"Longer than you should've been. I decided to let you sleep in because, in all honesty, you looked like you needed it," Cinder remarked. She's not very far off either, Ruby had found herself plagued with nightmares about mental shutdowns that night. "I had Yang leave a little while ago so she wouldn't be late. Foods on the table in case you're hungry. Oh, and Ruby?"

She turns to her, in the process of hastily throwing on her Beacon uniform. "Hm?"

"Maybe wait until I'm out of the room before you start undressing," she deappans.

Ruby freezes, her face becoming the shade of a tomato and she stands there half naked. Cinder leaves before she can say anything back, but it doesn't stop Ruby from feeling incredibly awkward as she finishes preparing for the day. She's gone when Ruby steps into the living room, and Ruby spares the time to scarf down the curry Cinder made her before bursting out the door. Charging for Giza line.

She makes it there before too long and rides the train to Aoyama-Itchome station. She hops off the bus and makes her may to the surface, weaving in and out of the crowds like a snake. _If there were ever a time to curse my height_ Ruby bemoaned as she finally emerged from the station. Ruby had often wondered if her classmates were just freakishly tall for there age, but sixteen years old and sitting at 5'2, she had been forced to face the reality that she was just short.

A drop of water splashed against Ruby's head as she stood there. She stops and looks up, a feeling of dread coming over her as she saw the darkening of the clouds. "Rain, seriously?" she complained aloud as more drops started to hit her. Ruby groaned and held her school bag above her head, preparing to make a mad dash for the school. She took off a second later, her shoes pounding against the concrete as she raced down the street. Despite the unfortunate circumstances surrounding her, Ruby couldn't help but smile. Even with all the craziness that was going on in her life right now, she could _run_. Run fast and happy with a huge smile on her face. Her feet would carry her down the track and all eyes would turn to her as she didn't just _pass_ the competitors, but _outclassed_ them entirely.

She shook her head, letting those memories fall by the wayside and she charged under an awning. The rain was really starting to pick up and she still had a little time before school started, so she could afford to take a few minutes. She slung her bag back over her shoulder and pulled out her phone, unlocking it to find that familiar unsettling app on her home screen. _Again? I need to get my phone checked out…_

Ruby is about to delete it again when something stops her. Another person walks under the awning, and Ruby turns her head so she can see them. It a girl who stands there. She has brilliant red hair tied up in a ponytail and looks to be about her age, if not a little older. Ruby notices that she looks to be wearing the same school uniform she is. _Is she from Beacon?_ Ruby wonders.

As if sensing Ruby was looking, the girl looks back to her. It's now that Ruby notices she has peircing emerald green eyes. "Um… hey," Ruby forces out, feeling she needs to say something to not seem weird.

She smiles, and Ruby thinks it makes her look rather pretty. "Hello," she greets simply, but there's a lilt to her voice that makes Ruby think she finds this amusing somehow. Before she can say anymore, a car pulls up in front of them. It's a plain grey model that looks to seat four in total. The window rolls down and an older man leans toward it, looking at them with a friendly smile. He has black hair that looks to be greying at the end. A big puffy mustache covers his upper lip and-similar to the girl standing next to Ruby-he has green eyes.

"Hello there. Would you like a ride to school?" the man asks, though Ruby isn't sure who he's talking too.

"Um… sure," the girl standing next to her says. She opens the door and steps inside, taking her place in the passenger seat.

The man turns to her. "How about you?" he asks politely.

Ruby is startled for a second but quickly regains her composure. "Nah, I'm good," she politely declines. The man shrugs and leans back, rolling up the window in the process. As he does, Ruby looks to the girl in the passenger seat. It's odd… for a second she swore she could see a look of total defeat on the girls face, but the window closes entirely before she can confirm if that's the case. The car drives of a second later, and for some reason it makes Ruby feel weird, like she was missing something.

She shakes her head. "I'm probably just imagining it…"

"Wait a second!" someone suddenly cried out, making Ruby jump. A young boy charged past her, looking like he was about to chase after the car for a second before stopping. "Dammit! I can't believe him. Poor perverted excuse of a teacher…" he swore under his breath.

"Perverted… teacher?" Ruby mumbled out without thinking. The boy turned to her, and Ruby recognized the Beacon uniform he wore. It was immaculately done up, and he even wore a red tie around it. He had unkempt blond hair and bright blue eyes. He was tall-easily topping six feet-but he looked kind of lanky, almost like his bones couldn't support his frame.

"Oh, um… You're not gonna say anything to Watts, are you?" the boy asked awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.

Ruby tilted her head in confusion. "Who's Watts?"

The boy fixed her with the same odd look. "Do you really not know who Watts is? You know, the guy who acts like the school is his castle?" Ruby just shrugged. "...You _are_ a Beacon student, right?"

"I'm a transfer. This is my first day," she clarifies for his benefit.

His eyes widened slightly. "Oh! I see. Bit weird you would transfer so late in the year though."

Ruby looked off to the side. "It was a bit sudden," she says lamely.

The boy shrugs. "Well it's not my place to judge. Come on; I'll walk you to school, I know a shortcut," he explains with a smile.

Ruby smiles back. "Thanks, that would be a big help. Don't wanna be late on my first day, after all."

"I get you. Follow me," he gestures toward an alley off to the side. The rain had let up while Ruby was loitering, thankfully, so she didn't have to bother covering herself. Just as they were about to exit the awning, a sharp pain ruptured throughout Ruby's head. She grabs at it, trying to keep calm as the world almost seemed to warp and distort around her.

A moment later, everything seems perfectly normal.

"What was that…?" she wondered aloud as she rubbed her head. A quick look up showed her the boy was doing the same thing.

"Man, that was weird," he remarks. He shakes his head and continues walking, Ruby following close behind. She slipped her phone back into her pocket as they walked, but if she were paying attention she might've noticed that mysterious app was pulsing. The two of them made there was through the back alleys. Turning on occasion but keeping a steady pace. After about half a minute, they emerge from the small alleyways to somewhere different.

Ruby's eyes widen. She can't believe what she's seeing. "Um… you did take us to the school, right?"

"Y-yeah! This is the route I use every single day!" he defends frantically. He sounds just as confused as she is, and she doesn't blame him.

Because, well… the school was a castle.

**A.N: That… was a long one, to say the least. PLEASE R&R, I am going to be going all in with this fic, updating as frequently as I can. I know some people will probably find it weird that Cinder of all people is Sojiro's replacement, and I can kinda understand why. But to put it bluntly, it's my story and I'm gonna do what I want. Cinder's my favorite character in RWBY, so I'm a little biased. Cover art by Emi on pinterest. Next chapter should hopefully be out next friday. Than weekly after that if I can manage it. **


	2. Into The Metaverse

**The Phantom Reaper Chapter 2: Into The Metaverse**

**A.N: Sorry if there are some grammatical errors my beta couldn't get back to me in time**

…

Ruby hadn't been _more_ confused in her entire life.

How had she not seen this before? What was this castle? Was this place _really_ supposed to be the school? And if it was, why had it changed so fast? So many questions ran through her mind as she tried to wrap her head around this turn of events. It didn't help that the guy next to her wasn't any help. He seemed just as lost as she was, maybe even more so considering he was an actual student here.

"Did the drama club change up the school's appearance, maybe? Perhaps they were trying to generate buzz for their most recent production," he theorized, his hand resting in his chin.

"I doubt it. I was just here yesterday and everything looked normal then."

He winced. "Ah, well, the sign over there _does_ say 'Beacon'. I guess we might as well head inside. Unless you've got any other ideas?"

Ruby shook her head. "Not really. Unless I'm still dreaming." She paused and looked down at her arm, waiting for a moment before pinching herself. "Yeah, no. This is definitely real," she stated simply. The guy looks at her weirdly for a second before he shakes his head and they walk forward.

If the castle _was_ meant to be purely aesthetic, then they did a great job changing up the place. Ruby crossed a drawbridge into the main courtyard, stepping over a moute that almost looked _real_. The courtyard was surprisingly small, and a little cramped. A bunch of wooden shelves and barrels were dumped over to one side, while the other was pretty barren and seemed to lead to nothing. A huge set of beautifully designed double doors stood in front of them. Ruby and the other guy paused, looking over the doors in amazement.

"Wow. If this _is_ some kinda promotion, they're really going all in," he observed.

"Totally. It's kinda hard to believe this was a normal school just yesterday," Ruby agreed.

"Yeah…" he lead off, looking to the side. Ruby shifted her gaze to him for a moment, wondering if something was wrong. He shakes his head. "Let's head in already. It would suck if we were late," he mentions offhandedly as he pushes open the door. Ruby isn't sure how to respond and simply walks in with him.

They step into the entrance of the school, or castle, depending on how she looked at it. The entrance was _huge_, way bigger than Ruby remembers the entrance being before. There are two hallways leading off on either side of them, and in front of them stands a large staircase leading up to a chair that almost looks like a throne a king would sit in.

Alright, now Ruby was starting to get suspicious. _I can maybe believe that they decided to dress up the school for some reason. But this is actually _bigger _than the main entrance of Beacon. It's impossible for them to renovate the building that quickly, _Ruby realizes, surveying the surroundings as she did.

"This is starting to get freaky… the sign outside _did_ say 'Beacon' right?" he asked her.

Ruby turned to him. "I'm know it did!" she exclaimed. The boy looks like he's about to say something back, but he stops suddenly. Behind her, Ruby can hear a loud _clanking_ sound. She turns around and raises a brow, wondering what was making such a racket.

She almost jumps out of her skin when she does. "Aah!" she shrieks, flailing about for a moment before calming down. The thing that startled her turned out to be another man. Well, she assumed it was a man, anyway. She couldn't tell because 'he' was wearing a knight costume. Shiny metal plates covered the entirety of his form, making him look like a medieval era old fashion knight. An expressionless clay mask covered his face, making it impossible to uncover his identity. "Geez, dude; you scared the crap out of me!" Ruby complained, looking over the knight.

"Hey, can you help us out? This _is_ Beacon academy, right? We wanna know if we got lost or something. Oh! My name's Ruby, just so you know," she explained. "...Cool costume, by the way," she adds when he doesn't respond.

"Uh, Ruby? I think we should leave…" the guy behind her says uneasily.

"Huh? Why?" Ruby asks, looking to him. The _clanking_ sound from before starts up again, and when Ruby looks back she sees another knight now standing beside the first. Now she takes a step back, feeling the same unease as the boy behind her. She bumps into him, and when she looks up she notices he's looking ahead. Following his gaze, she realizes a third knight is approaching them. "Uh, is there some kind of problem?" she asks shakily. The knights start to close in on them. "Well?! Will you just say something?!" she shouts.

"You are trespassing on Lord Watts castle. Don't resist!" one of the knights demands.

Ruby lowers herself a bit. "This is crazy! We need to get out of here!" she cries, tapping the boys shoulder as she starts to run. Before she can get too far, she bumps into another one of those knights. Apparently more had appeared while they were talking. Ruby's eyes widen and the knight suddenly acts, slamming his shield into Ruby's chest. She wheezes and stumbles back, coughing up a storm as she tries to regain her composure.

"Woah! What the hell's your problem?!" the boy shouts, getting in the knight's face. As Ruby is still trying to recover from having the wind knocked out of her, something strikes her in the back of the head, _hard_.

She's unconscious before she hits the ground.

…

"Hey… Hey! Get up! Ruby!"

Ruby's eyes snap opened. She tries to sit up, and almost immediately regrets it. "Ugh…" she groans, rubbing her head to try and alleviate the pain. Her head feels like someone tried to break it open with a jackhammer. She sits up, slowly this time, and looks around her. The same blond boy from before crouches in front of her. Ruby realizes almost immediately he was the one who woke her up.

He sighs. "Thank god, you're finally awake," he greets, hanging his head. He looks back at her, concern clear in his eyes. "Hey, are you alright? You took a pretty heavy hit back there…"

Ruby rubs her head a bit more. "Ngh… Yeah, I'll manage. How about you?" she asks in turn.

He points to himself. "Me? I'm fine. They bruised me a bit while they were taking me down here, but nothing serious," he explains. His words remind Ruby to look around and figure out where she even is.

She's in a prison cell.

_Another one… _Ruby ponders, thinking back to the Velvet Room. This one is a good degree larger than that one, though equally barren. This one didn't even have a toilet. Just a bed-which she was currently sitting on-and a couple of wooden barrels resting by the cell bars. The brickwork on the place looks incredibly shoddy, with weeds and dirt peeking through some of the cracks.

"Why are we in a cell? I'm so lost…" she bemoaned as she rose to a stand.

"I wish I could tell you that. I'm just as confused as you are. All I've been able to gather is that this place has some sort of 'ruler' and that those guys from before answer to him," he offers.

Ruby looks around, troubled. She walks to the bars, placing her hand against them and peering out. The surroundings look like an honest to god _dungeon_, with cells lining the walls and a river running through the center of it that separated the two sides of the room. Ruby can't even comprehend what she should do. The only thing she could think about was the rising sense of dread welling up within her.

A haunting scream echoes throughout the hall.

The sound rings in Ruby's ears, filling her being until it's the only thing she can think about. Eventually, her gaze hardens, and she turns back to the boy in the cell with her. He's standing off to the side, looking equally, if not more frightened than her. "We need to get out of here," Ruby declares, and her words seem to spark life into the boy.

"I agree," he says, walking up to her. "I was looking around earlier while you were still knocked out. The bars are scarily well made, so there's nothing we can do to mess with them." He sighs. "I can't think of much else we could do. Do you have anything?" he asks.

Ruby looks around once more, her eyes locking onto the walls of the cell. "There are tons of cracks in the wall and stuff. Maybe we could find the weakest point and break them?" she offered.

He shook his head. "Even if we _could_ find something strong enough for that, the walls to either side of us only lead into other cells. Not to mention the noise that would make would just attract those knight guys to us," he explained.

Ruby sighed deeply. "Well other then that I've got nothing. There _has_ to be a way out though, right?" she asked.

"Surely," he replies, though he doesn't sound sure of himself.

"My, oh my. Just _look_ who it is managed to fall into my grasp here," a delighted voice drawled. Ruby and her friend whip around, finding themselves face to face with someone eerily familiar. Ruby recognizes him as the guy who had pulled up when she was waiting under the awning, but the other guys reaction is a whole lot more prominent.

"Watts! What in the world are _you_ doing here!" he cries, pointing at the man. Now that she is paying more attention she takes note of how he is dressed. He wears a simple small golden crown around his head. A sweeping blue robe hangs from his shoulders, ending around his ankles. Under that he wears an immaculate blue overcoat over a grey dress shirt. Unwrinkled blue dress pants flow into dark blue dress shoes. He looks gaudy and ridiculous, but he stands tall as if looking down on them.

"Watch the way you speak to me, peasant! I am the king of this castle after all," he declares. Ruby notices that he has two of those knights with him, and wonders why that is. "I must say I didn't expect to find you here, Arc. Have you come to grovel for forgiveness?" Watts asks, grinning madly.

"Wh-what are you going on about? Please just let us out!" Ruby pleads.

"She's right! I know you and I don't get along, but keeping us here is just psychotic!" Arc shouts.

Watts glared at them hotly. "Are you talking back to the king? In _my _castle, that is a very serious offense. I believe the punishment is… death."

Ruby's eyes widen. Death? Was he serious? Her mind spun from how quickly things had escalated. Just this morning she had been flustered over undressing in front of her guardian, and now she was being threatened with death in a castle? It just didn't make any sense to her.

The door to the cell opened before she could think on it any more. Four guards steps in ahead of the 'king', spreading throughout the small room and inadvertently pushing Ruby against the wall. Watts jabbed a finger at Arc. "We'll start with _him_ first," he declares.

Arc's face flashes in anger and he charges forward, shoulder checking one of the guards and pushing him out of the way. "I'm not about to take this lying down!" he roars.

"Know your place, rat!" one of the knights shouts, slamming the guard of their blade into his chest. Arc wheezes and keels over, hacking up a storm as he tried to breath properly again. He rests on his knees, taking deep breaths as he looked around the room at everyone.

"Well would you look at that. Someone's rather spirited today," Watts commented, watching the display with a smile. Ruby can't comprehend how someone can find a man fighting for his life amusing, but she ignores him as she turns back to Arc.

Right as Ruby is about to help him out, he fixes his gaze on her. "Well what are you waiting for?! Get out of here! Just go!" he screams. Ruby freeze's finding herself unable to move as she processes his words. _Is he really asking me to just leave him here? Is he crazy?_

"Well? Aren't you going to run away?" Watts asks, turning to her. Ruby's horrified gaze turns to him, and the toothy smile he wears makes her heart stop. He sighs dramatically. "What a waste. Your friend just gave you an out, are you really going to let their sacrifice be in vain?"

Ruby still can't bring herself to move.

"...Fine then. Guards!" He snaps his fingers, and suddenly two swords cross over Ruby's neck. She gasps and presses herself against the wall, trying to greaten the distance between her and the cold steel inches away. Watts cackles and turns his attention to the blonde still on his knees. "Where did all your energy from earlier go? On your feet, peasant!"

He remains on his knees, glaring definitely at the 'king'.

Watts scowled. "If that's how you'll have it, then fine! Guards!" he commands. The two remaining knight's drag him to his feet, clutching onto his arms and preventing escape. Watts walks up to him and cracks his knuckles. "I don't typically involve myself in these petty squabbles, but considering it's _you_, Arc, I think I might have myself a little fun," he leads off with a laugh.

His fist lashes out, striking Arc across the jaw.

"Stop it!" Ruby cries out, as Watts rains down blows on the poor boy. He pauses as she shouts and turns to her. Ruby can feel tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. This man was supposed to be a teacher, right? How could he be this cruel? And to one of the students at his own school no less! It doesn't feel real to her, and she almost wants to deny it's happening entirely.

"Don't worry. The time for you to die will come shortly, there's no need for you to shout," Watts patronizes, as if speaking to a very stupid child. He turns back to the blonde, "Guards, if you would…" he leads off. One of the golem like creatures steps away, but the other is quick to act. It grabs him by the collarbone and shoves him against the wall, aiming the tip of it's blade at his throat.

"_What's the matter? Are you simply going to watch?"_

A haunting voice explodes inside Ruby's head. She gasps and a constant, hot wave of pain resonates throughout her head. It feels like her skull is being split in half, but despite the unbearable migraine Ruby can still hear the mysterious voice clearly, as if it were whispering in her ear.

"_Are you forsaking him to save yourself? Death awaits him if you do nothing. Was your previous decision a mistake then?"_

The pain in her head seems to reach a fever pitch, and even though it doesn't lessen at all Ruby finds himself able to focus. Able to focus just enough to remember a cold night not to long ago. To remember a drunk man trying to force himself on a woman. To remember the worthless police who had arrested her for trying to help, and the justice system which had punished her for defending it. She remembers all these things, and can only really respond one way.

"It _wasn't_." she growls out, a blood boiling anger starting to coarse through her. All of the sudden the pressure in her skull seemed to almost double, and she wailed with pain as it felt like something was trying to claw its way outside of her head. For half a second she wonders how the other occupants of the cell might be reacting, but a spike of heat prevents her from doing so for long.

"_Very well… I have headed your resolve. Vow to me. I am thou, thou art I… Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! Call upon my name, and release thy rage! Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to hell itself!"_

After one last, powerful cry of pain, Ruby finds herself able to concentrate again. Just as she does, Watts gestures to Arc, still struggling helplessly against the grip of the knight. "Execute him!" the 'king' cries out.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Ruby _roars_, cutting through the tension in the room like a cannon.

Watts stops and turns his gaze to her, an ugly scowl maring his features. "What was that?" he asks lowly, taking a step toward Ruby. She doesn't cower at all. She stares into his eyes, imagining him as everyone who had caused her life to end up like this. All of that hate and bile was thrown behind her gaze, and she focused it like a fine point at the man before her. "You truly wish to be killed that much? Fine! Guards! Leave the ignoramus for later, we'll start with _this one_."

The guards do as he commands, the one who had been holding Arc up letting him fall to the ground before turning his attention to Ruby. She doesn't falter in the slightest, staring _through_ the guard to glare at Watts. "That look in your eyes irritates me!" he scowls. The guard from before doesn't slow in its approached, stepping forward and raising its sword above its head. It holds that pose for a second, as if to intimidate Ruby, but it doesn't work.

Just as it's about to bring the blade down, something _clicks_ in Ruby's mind.

A whirlwind abruptly erupts from seemingly nothing, throwing two of the guards on their ass and completely incapacitating the other two. Ruby stands hunched over slightly, but when she rises something is different about her. She now wears a domino mask over her eyes. It's blood red and has little dashes of black around the eyes. Ruby reaches up to touch it, as if just realizing it were there. She isn't sure why, but she's suddenly filled with the intense desire to _tear the mask off_. She listens to it, as she digs her fingers underneath the mask and begins to pull. "Ah!" she yelps, hesitating for a second as a flare of pain ignites from where she pulled.

After a moment, she ignores it, and continues to _rip_ the mask from around her eyes. Her flash starts to peel away as she does; a sickening _rrrrrip!_ Sound cascading through the cell as blood starting to explode around Ruby's eyes and cake her face. "Rrragh!" Ruby wails, and with one final tug the mask is separated from her eyes. Blood drips down her face and surrounds her silver eyes, which have now taken on a golden tint as she stares down Watts. "Huff… huff… heh," Ruby chuckles. A wild grin filled with madness and contempt screws itself onto her face, her eyes bugging out as a sensation of power begins to well up within her.

The blood caked over her face ignites into beautiful azure flames. They flickered and expanded, eventually cloaking her entire form and making her invisible to Arc and Watts. A scythe flashes out of the flames; it's a beautiful thing that has red, black and grey parts of machinery lining it. The strike from the scythe cuts through the flames, dissipating them in an instant and revealing Ruby's form once more.

She looks exactly the same-aside from the scythe of course-but it's the thing standing behind her that frightens both Watts _and_ Arc. It stood at nine feet tall, it's sparking cheshire cat grin eternally etched onto its face. Flowing red wings matched the color of his red coat and pants. He had a snow white ascot secured around his neck and long, twisting chains cascaded around him. Ruby's smile still gleams with madness, but it is more tempered now.

"_Ha ha ha! What a truly beloved sight. I see you have finally awakened to your power,"_

Ruby smiles. "Or is it more accurate to call it yours, Arsene?"

Although it's impossible, it seems as though Arsene's grin grows even wider. "_As much fun as postulating like this may be, we have a contract to sign, no?"_

Ruby closes her eyes and brings her scythe down to a resting position. "Yes… lend me your power!"

Arsene laughs heartily. "_But of course. With my speed, you will always be fast enough to save any who may be in needing. Allow this Semblance which once rested deep within you to burst forth! And with it, thou hast acquired the strength to wield Crescent Rose to its full potential! I am thou-!"_

"-Thou art I!" Ruby finished, and her eyes snap open. Arsene's form falls on top of hers, the two of them occupying the same space as if one or both of them were ethereal. All of the sudden, there's an explosion of blue light that blinds the two other people again. When this one falls away, Ruby Rose almost looks like an entirely different person.

Her Beacon academy uniform is gone, and what now replaces it is hardly recognizable. A pitch black corset with red trim on the sleeves and skirt covers most of her form. An immaculate silver rose pendant is attached to a black waist cincher. Black leggings led down into black combat boots with red lacing and soles. A silver cross also hangs on her waist, and two more much smaller versions of the same cross connect a long, flowing blood red cloak to her neck. The red and black domino mask from before hangs over her eyes, masking her identity from anyone who might not have known her.

She holds one arm forward, and from an explosion of azure flames appears the scythe she was holding earlier. She stares down at Watts-the supposed 'king' of this place-and points her weapon at him. "Well? Aren't you going to run away?" she asks tauntingly, throwing his words back at him.

"...Wh-what in the _hell_ is going on?!" the blonde boy she had just saved wailed, looking up at Ruby in shock and awe.

Watts clenches his teeth and drags himself to a stand. "Enough of this! Strike her down, guards!" he howls, gesturing wildly at her. The two remaining guards bring themselves to their feet, but they don't approach her, at least not initially. A black, tar like substance started pouring out of the suits of armour. Thick sludge spilled out of every orifice imaginable, coalescing into a pile on the floor. That pile shifted around for a second before exploding outward, an entirely new creature now standing where it once was. It wore a tattered robe and witches hat, and only it's hands and head wear visible. The hands were clothed in whites gloves and it's head was that of a jack-o-lantern, the cut out eyes and mouth gleaming brilliantly.

Two of these jack-o-lantern creatures were now in the cell with Ruby, but she didn't feel any fear as she faced them. "Hee-ho-hee! You were a fool to challenge lord Watts, and now you'll pay the price!" one of them shrieked. It thrust it's hand forward, and a spout of fire shot toward Ruby, threatening to burn her alive. The flames never struck, however, Ruby appeared to have disappeared from the monster's view. A whirlwind of red rose petals dashed forward, appearing in front of the creature before it could even comprehend what was going on.

The rose petals fell away, and Ruby could be seen as soon as they cleared the air. Her scythe whipped out, cutting through the halloween-themed mage in a clean slice. The creature cried out before falling to the ground, disappearing entirely in a puff of black smoke.

The other enemy was quick to react, blasting a spire of flames at Ruby much the same way the other one did. Ruby spun to the side, avoiding the blast as it crashed down next to her. She didn't know where the blonde boy was now, but she wouldn't exactly blame him if he were hiding; it wasn't like he could hope to fight these things, after all. Crescent Rose arched upward, severing the things hand from its body. It wailed in agony, but it didn't have to suffer for long as Ruby twirled her weapon and thrusts with the end, impaling the monster on the spear point that was there.

It too faded into nothing, and when it did Ruby turned her attention to Watts-who has cowering on the ground-and Arc-who had his back pressed up against the wall in fear. Realizing she wasn't gonna hurt him, he rose to a shaky stand. Ruby's scythe vanished with a puff of azure flame's, and she turned to Arc with a small quirk of her lips. "Let's get the hell out of here already."

Watts had brought himself to a stand now. "D-don't think such a thing will go unpunished-"

"I've heard enough of _this_ guy. You're right, let's jet," the blood boy announced. Ruby wasn't about to fight him on that and charged out of the cell, Arc following close behind. When they stepped out of the prison, Arc shut the cell door behind them and locked it with a circle of keys she just noticed he possessed.

"When did you grab that?" Ruby asked.

He turned to her with a smile and twirled the keys. "They were lying on the floor after you knocked out those weird monster things. I grabbed 'em on our way out," he explained.

Watts _slammed_ his arms against the cell, startling them both. "Don't think you've escaped just yet, knaves! More of my guards will come for me!" he cried out. _Let them,_ Ruby thought confidently, standing to her full height.

Of course, it was at that exact moment an explosion of Azure flames ignited, and Ruby found herself in her Beacon academy uniform once more.

"Wh-what the hell?! What happened to your weird clothes?" the blonde boy asked.

Ruby looked down at herself, equally as confused. "I honestly have no idea… and I thought I looked pretty cool!" she added after a moment.

The other boy sighed and shook his head. "Like we have time to be arguing about this now." He straightened. "Alright, let's find a way _out_ of this creepy dungeon," he posited, making his way down the hall.

Ruby was quick to join him, she couldn't agree more…

…

Glynda Goodwitch could not _believe_ the position she was currently in.

A transfer student wasn't a big deal, not normally anyway. People transferred schools all the time! In fact, Glynda had taught more than a few of them during her time as a teacher. Most of the time she met them with sympathy. After all, adjusted to a new school environment was hard for most kids. Finding new friends, learning the school's layout, adjusting to different teachers, and having to study for exams on top of all that? It was difficult for a teenager. Especially if they were transferring to a prep school like Beacon.

But a student with a criminal record…

_That _was a new one. Glynda had been a teacher for a good while now, so problem children were nothing new to her. She had dealt with a few pretty directly, in fact. But a typical troublemaker and _a student arrested for assault_ were two very different things. It didn't help that she already had so much on her plate. _Dealing with _this _and managing my normal school work? Not to mention that other thing…_

Glynda sighed, something she'd been making a habit of recently. The thing was, she had been willing to be optimistic. Maybe she wasn't she bad? Maybe it was all a misunderstanding? After all, Ruby Rose certainly didn't _look_ like someone who would randomly sock someone out of the blue. So yeah, Glynda had been more than willing to give Ruby the benefit of the doubt and think that she was really trying to make up for her actions.

All of that had flown straight out the window when she was _late_.

On her first day no less! You had to be a special kind of crazy to be late on your first day of school after being put on probation. And that wasn't even the worse part! Being late was one thing. If Ruby Rose had chosen to walk into class a few minutes late to make a 'statement' or something, fine, whatever. It was stupid, very much so, but Glynda could forgive that.

But being _five hours _late was too much.

Ruby already hadn't exactly been in her good graces before this. But now that she was _skipping _her first day, Glynda couldn't keep the same optimism from before. "And her sister came here just fine, too…" she said aloud, sighing once more. Many of the other teachers in the faculty office glanced at her with sympathy, no doubt knowing about her situation. Glynda choose not to focus on them and crossed her arms, looking at the door. "Ms. Fall said she slept in today, but even so she's still _way_ too late…"

She'd better have a _good goddamn explanation _for this… for her sake.

…

They ran into their first roadblock not long after they left.

After crossing some broken bridges and climbing a flight of stairs, Ruby and Arc found themselves standing in front of a drawbridge. Now, that may sound pretty simple. Just walk across it and continue on their way, right? Problem was; the bridge was drawn up, and Ruby couldn't find a way to lower it for the life of her. "Maybe we should just kick it down!" Ruby growled as she frantically searched the area for anything useful. The mysterious power that she had awakened too back in the cell hadn't returned to her, and thankfully the two of them hadn't run into anymore of those strange monster knights.

Yet, anyway, there was no telling what would happen if they couldn't find a way around this soon.

"Hey! You two look like you're having some trouble!" a boyish voice called from behind them. Ruby and Arc whirled around, wondering who could have possibly found them. Ruby spied him in the cell sitting behind them. And man, hadn't _that _been eery. On their way up Ruby had seen a good number of cells similar to how hers looked, with some cells even hanging dangerously above open water. Frighteningly enough, some of those cells had actual _people _in them. Ruby had been more than ready to try and save them too, but as Arc had been quick to point out, they made neither the resources nor time to do so. He had tried to keep his face neutral during the exchange, but she could tell the idea of leaving these guys behind to whatever fate may befall them hurt him too.

Back to the matter at hand, Ruby and Arc approached the cell behind him, looking down at the figure that had called out to them. He was only about three feet tall, with a big, bulbous head and short, stocky body. If Ruby had to best describe it, he looked like a cat mascot for a sports team. Snow white tufts of hair lined the insides of his cats ears; his tail was black with a white tip and his paws gripped at the bars tightly as he tried to get their attention. He looked like he wore a black mask over the top of his face, while his neck was adorned with a yellow neckerchief and a black belt with large poaches hung from his waist. His body was a deep black while his hand and feet paws were both snow white.

"Um… I have no idea how to respond to this," Arc announced. Ruby simply continued to stare at the cat.

"Don't worry about that!" it cried out, shaking the bars once more. "Listen! You guys are trying to get out of here, right? I can show you the way! Just let me out first, okay? The keys are right there on the wall!" the cat ranted frantically, gesturing towards a ring of keys hanging from the nearby wall.

Arc frowned. "How are we even supposed to trust you? I mean you look like one of those creepy monsters we've seen around here!" he cried out. Ruby ignores him, already retrieving the keys from their spot on the wall.

"Trust me, I'm _not_ a shadow. I mean, come on! Why would they lock me up if I was on their side!" he exclaims.

Ruby inserting the key into the lock alerts the two boys to her presence.

"W-wait a minute Ruby! Aren't you being a little hasty?!" Arc frenzied, waving his arms.

"Don't worry; it's fine," Ruby dismisses, unlocking the cell and opening it.

The cat creature steps out. "Ah~! Freedom at la-"

Ruby is on top of him before he can finish.

"Oh aren't you a cute little boy?! The cutest little boy in the whole wide world? You are! Yes you are!" Ruby cheered, rubbing his head and scratching under his chin. The cat freezes in shock, completely baffled by Ruby's affectionate actions, but soon enough he succumbs to the petting and is puddy in her hands. A large blush develops on his cheeks and he starts to purr, waggling back and forth in her arms.

Arc gapes at the duo, just as flabbergasted as the cat was initially. After a moment his face tightens uncomfortably. "I...I wanna pet the monster cat too…" he says under his breath.

The creature sparks back to life and glares at him, struggling out of Ruby's hold. "I am _not_ a cat! My name is Morgana!" Morgana clarifies. He huffs and walks forward, approaching the drawbridge before turning to face them. "_Anyway_, I'm a man of my word, so I'll show you two how to get out of here," he tells them with a smile. He points to Ruby. "Alright, highlights, come over here for a second."

Ruby cocks her head, confused. "Me?" she asks. Morgana nods and she shrugs, walking up next to him. "Okay… what am I supposed to do?"

"You see that statue over there?" he asks in turn, pointing to the side. Ruby looks over there and sees what he's talking about. Next to the drawbridge sits a stone bust of Watts decked out in his 'king' outfit. Ruby isn't sure how she didn't notice it before; it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Ruby steps over to it. "Is this what you're talking about?"

Morgana nods. "Yeah. Now then, pull on that things jaw," he instructed. Ruby raises an eyebrow, but after a moment she does as he says. Surprisingly, it works, and the drawbridge lowers a second later.

"Wow. How did you know that would work?" Ruby asked, impressed.

Morgana smirked. "I saw them use it a couple times when I was locked up."

Arc scowls behind them. "Of _course_ he would use a method like that. Egomaniac that he is," he ranted.

Morgana looks back at him, then turns to Ruby. "Looks like blondie over there has a real problem with this guy…" he whispers.

Ruby shrugs. "I guess. Anyway, let's get out of here," she posites. "Hey dude, we're about to leave," Ruby reminds Arc, bringing him back to the world of the living.

"Right, sorry. Got a little distracted there," he apologized before following them across the bridge. The cobblestone clicked under their feet when they stepped off of the drawbridge. Looking around, Ruby noticed a hallway leading down to a staircase.

"Is the exit through there?" she asks, looking at Morgana.

He shakes his head. "No, that only leads down to the dungeon," he informs them. Suddenly his ears perk up and he faces right, looking down the walkway. "Crap! We took too long, there's a shadow coming!" he shouts. Ruby's eyes widen and she follows Morgana's gaze, turning right to find herself facing another one of those knights from before.

Arc jumps back and falls on his ass, crawly away quickly as he cursed. "Shit! There's more of them?!" he exclaimed in fear. Ruby would've been tempted to call him a scardy-cat, but after facing these things in their true form she really couldn't blame him.

The shadow shudders and breaks away, coming apart into two forms that now stood facing them. One was the jack-o-lantern creature from before, while the other takes the form of a pasty looking child with flower petals surrounding his head.

Morgana leaps over Arc to face them. "Geez, you guys really are amateurs," he chastised. He points to Ruby. "Hey you! You can fight, right?" he asks. Ruby's eyes widen in realization. Up until recently, she had never even _been_ in a real fight. But she had handled that giant scythe with ease, not to mention the crazy powers she now possessed.

Ruby steps forward and grins, a strange sense of excitement filling her. "Yeah, I guess I can!" she exclaims. Her clothes abruptly explode into azure flames, and when they die down she's wearing the same outfit she had back in the cell. She reaches her hand out, and like before Crescent Rose burst to life in her grip. She twirls the scythe and brings it before her. "All right, let's cut these guys down!" Ruby shouts.

Morgana smiles wildly. "I like your style, highlights! Let's do this!" he exclaims. A silver saber appears in his grip much the same way her scythe did. Ruby nods and rushes forward, sprinting straight on at the flower petal creature. She closes the distance quickly and lashes out, looking to hack off the things legs. It jumped over her blade, but Ruby was quick to react and adjusted her grip, whipping the blade upward to try and slice its throat open. The creature veers back, just barely avoiding the blade of her scythe before touching down. Ruby jumps back from it's counter assault and tsks, trying to come up with a plan of attack.

"Wow, you guys really _are_ amateurs," Morgana taunts, leaping up onto Ruby's shoulder. Her flips in front of her and bears his saber, and Ruby notices that the blade seems to be laced in some strange, grainy substance that's an emerald green in color. He slices forward, and to Ruby's surprise a large gust of wind kicks up and flies toward the flower creature. The wind seems to coalesce until it looks as sharp as a sword. When it connects with the monster a second later, it's legs are torn from its body and it's collapses to the ground with a cry of pain. Morgana is on top of it before it can suffer for long, severing it's head from its body and effectively killing it.

The jack-o-lantern creature sends forth a blast of flame which Morgana is quick to avoid. Ruby starts, now back to her senses as she raced at the monster. "Don't think I forgot about you!" it cried, another gout of fire being sent towards her. Ruby maneuvered around the attack with her superior speed, turning into a flash of red rose petals as she sped all around the walkway. She appear again directly under the halloween themed mage and grits her teeth, suddenly feeling a lot more tired than she did previously. The gears and other mechanisms in her scythe started shifting suddenly, and the blade of Crescent Rose was abruptly lurched straight forward, like the point of of spear.

"Haaah!" Ruby cried out, trusting her scythe upward into the belly of the creature. The blade punctured into flesh and _burst_ out the other end, completely impaling him and leaving her weapon drenched in blood. The creature wailed in a agony before dissipating entirely. The blade of Crescent Rose shifted back into its neutral position-completely clear of any mess because of their enemy's vanishing act-and Ruby turned back to face Morgana.

The cat regarded her with a look of immense interest. "Nice job rookie! Your Semblance is simple, but pretty strong!" he cheered.

Ruby tilted her head in confusion, her clothes returning back to normal. "Semblance? Are you talking about those crazy powers you guys were using? I've been wondering about that myself…" Arc said, joining the conversation now that the battle was over.

Morgana turned to regard him as well. "You pick up on things quickly blondie. But you're right, highlight's speed back there was her Semblance. It's an ability she can use to fight shadow's here in the Metaverse," he explained, though honestly it just confused Ruby all the more.

"Then was that thing with your sword your Semblance? And what do you mean by Metaverse?" Ruby asked.

Morgana scratched at his head frantically. "Argh! I'd explain it to you all normally, but we don't have the time right now! The longer we wait here, the easier it'll be for shadows to find us! It doesn't help that you don't seem to have full control over your powers yet!" he cried, startling both Ruby and Arc.

"Y-your right. I'm sorry. It's just that this place is one big question mark to us…" Arc told him, looking at the dungeon around them.

Morgana sighed. "Like I said, I'll explain it all later if you really want me to, but for now we need to make it out of here," he pressed.

"Alright Morgana, we'll follow your lead," Ruby reassured. She looked to Arc and he nodded, asking Morgana to show them the way out. Soon enough, they were racing through the dungeon once again. As they did, questions started swirling around in her head, clouding her focus as she raced after the cat. What was this place? How did it get here? Why was Watts the supposed 'king' here? What about her power? And Morgana? If this 'Metaverse' wasn't the same as reality, what was going on up there?

Frustratingly, Ruby couldn't hope to answer any of these questions. That was the most vexing thing. For all of her fear and confusion, she didn't even have the slightest clue _why_ any of this was happening. The three of them ended up reaching a staircase, thankfully without running into any more of those 'shadows' as Morgana called them. "All right! We're at the home stretch now, it's just up here!" the cat cried, racing up the steps with them close behind. After a moment, they crested the stairs and stepped into the main hall where Ruby and Arc had been captured. Morgana raced down the hall, running down the other hallway that connected to the main hall until he stopped in front of a door.

Without any prompting, Arc pushed the door open and stepped inside. Ruby followed in after to find herself in a barren square room with a couple of shelves sitting in the back. "Are you sure we'll be safe in here?" the blonde asked.

"Don't worry. The shadows rarely ever check in here," he tells them.

Ruby sighs. "Ah, that's a relief. I don't know why, but I feel super tired all of the sudden," she expresses, yawning lightly.

Morgana nods. "That makes sense. Even using your Semblance for small things takes a little out of you. Especially if you just awakened to your power," he told her. Ruby was inclined to believe him, what with how sluggish she felt right now.

"That's good and all, but where's this exit of yours?" Arc asked pointedly.

"Cool your pants, blondie. It's right up there," he chastised, pointing at a ventilation duct sitting above the shelfs.

"My name's _Jaune_. Jaune Arc," Jaune clarified, grumbling. He turned his head to the back of the room and groaned. "So I'm guessing the exit is through that vent right?" he asks, and Morgana nods. "Alright then. Might as well do _something_ useful for you guys, seeing as how you kept me alive and all that," he rambles, attempting to climb up the shelves. They teeter and shake, but hold still, and Jaune carefully makes his way to the vent using them. When he's finally level with it, he brings his leg back and _kicks_, breaking the covering off and revealing a hole just large enough for a person to crawl through. "Aaah!" he suddenly yells. Jaune comes crashing down and topples the shelf over in the process. Ruby winces, it looked like his kick had sent the shelf off-balance and thrown it on its side.

"Nice one, _Jaune Arc_," Morgana snickers.

"Can it, cat," he grumbles. Ruby moves to help him up but he waves her off. "I'm fine," he tells her as he brings himself to his feet.

Morgana straightens. "Alright, you two. It's time for you to get out of here."

Ruby and Jaune pause. "You're not coming with us?" Ruby asks, concerned

He shakes his head. "Sorry, but no. I still have some business I need to take care of here. You don't have to worry about me though, I'm much too graceful to be taken surprise by the shadows here again," he adds at the end, no doubt noticing her worried expression.

Ruby still hesitates for a moment, but she nods. "Alright, if you're sure…" Morgana's confidence doesn't waver, and Ruby takes that as a sign he'll be fine. With Jaune's help, she climbs up the shelfs to the vent.

After sparing one last glance to Morgana, the two teens exit the castle.

…

Morgana didn't leave the small square room immediately. He stood them contemplatively, watching the infiltration point he had uncovered with interest.

Another person with a Semblance, huh? It looked like his infiltration of this Palace was going to be _much more_ interesting than he had thought. He put his hand to his chin in thought. He had a lot to consider now, especially in regards to the Metaverse.

"Those two might actually be pretty useful… Especially the one with highlights…"

…

When Ruby's senses finally returned, her and Jaune found themselves standing in the middle of the street. Right in front of the alley that Jaune led her down initially, as a matter of fact.

"_You have returned to the real world," _her phone chirped, much to Ruby's confusion.

"Oh, man. We're really here, right? Like, this isn't an illusion or anything?" Jaune asked nonsensically.

Ruby looked around her-taking note of the storefronts and the passing pedestrians-before turning to Jaune. "Yeah… I think we're good."

Jaune lets out the largest sigh of relief Ruby's ever heard. "Oh thank god. When Watts had me up against the wall back there, I seriously thought I was gonna die," he admits.

Ruby smiles at him. "Then… I guess it's a good thing I was there," she says.

"No kidding."

The two of them enjoy a moment a silence, processing everything that happened to them.

...It doesn't last long.

"Hey! You two! What do you think you're doing!" someone shouts to the left of them. Ruby and Jaune turn to find two police officers approaching them. They look incredibly aggravated, as if they would rather be doing anything else. Ruby looks at them confused, wondering why they were picking them out of the crowd. The officers stop in front of them before Ruby can realize. "What are you two doing out of school?" one asks gruffly.

"What do you mean?" she asks in turn, and for some reason Jaune face-palms.

The officer eyes her shortly, like he couldn't believe she just asked that. "Well if you really need me to spell it out for you, missy. Those are Beacon uniforms you're wearing, and last I checked classes were still in session, so what are you doing out of school?" he asked incredulously.

Ruby's eyes widened comically. _Oh crap! I'm so dead!_ She realized. "O-oh! Um, well… you see-"

"-Our train got _super_ delayed because of the accident yesterday. We live pretty far out from Beacon, you see, so when we finally gave up and decided to walk here it took us a while," Jaune cut in, saving her from herself. Ruby looked at him out of the corner of her eye, wondering why he hadn't mentioned anything about the castle. Ruby was about to speak up herself when Jaune continued. "We're sorry for all the confusion, officers. We were just on our way to school when you stopped us," he told them, and Ruby was surprised by how good he was at lying.

The officers eyes them for a moment longer, humming occasionally, but they nodded. "Well, I suppose it's fine if you're already on your way there. Just be careful to make it on time from now on."

Jaune nodded and walked away, grabbing Ruby's hand when she didn't initially follow him. She let him drag her along for a little, looking at him curiously. After a second, she couldn't keep quiet anymore. "Why didn't you tell those cops about the castle?"

Jaune pauses and lets go of her hand, rubbing his head sheepishly. "Sorry. I guess that did seem pretty weird," he comments.

"Well, yeah. You got all cagey all of the sudden." She crosses her arms and frowns. "Do you have a problem with the police or something?" she asked.

"N-no! Nothing like that! It's just that, well… Do you really think those guys would believe anything we said?" he asks. Ruby looks down, reminded of the disapproving looks the police in her hometown gave her when she was arrested.

"Yeah… I guess you're right." She shakes her head, trying to banish her thoughts somewhere else. "Anyways, let's get to school already. We're already _mega_ late," Ruby complained and walked ahead, Jaune following close behind. The two of them weaved through the back alleys, just as they had when they first tried to get to school. This time, when they emerged from the tight alleyways, the imposing form of Beacon academy greeted them.

"What the hell? It's perfectly normal now. But it's not like I changed my route at all from last time…" Jaune muttered.

Ruby shrugged. "If you're looking at me for answers, you're not gonna get anywhere. I'm just as confused as you are."

He sighs. "I know you are, Ruby. I'm talking to myself more than anything. I mean, don't _you_ want an explanation for everything that happened today?"

"You'd better believe it. But right now, I'm more concerned with what my guardian will do to me if I'm any more late for school," Ruby explained.

Jaune blanched. "Oh crap, yeah. Let's get going already," he said, walking toward the gate. The two of them stepped through without any issue, entering the school before parting ways to get to classes. Ruby walked up to the second floor and made her way to the faculty office. If she remembered right, her homeroom teacher should be in here in order to show her to her classroom. Ruby wondered for a second if she might not be, what with her being at school so late, but didn't dwell on it long before she opened the door and stepped inside.

Sure enough, sitting in a swivel chair was the frustrated form of Ms. Goodwitch.

She turned to regard Ruby, disappointment clear in her gaze. "So, you actually decided to show up?"

"Ehehe… hah," Ruby laughed awkwardly.

Goodwitch's gaze was flat. "Do you at least have a reason for your tardiness?"

Ruby's mind raced as she tried to find a suitable answer. After a second, something came to her. "I live a while away from Beacon, you know. The train got _super_ delayed and by the time I decided to just hoof it, a lot of time had passed," she offers, using the same lie Jaune had spun earlier.

Goodwitch tilted her head. "Well… I suppose you _are_ unfamiliar with the area," she relents, and Ruby swears the gesture almost seems to _pain_ her. She shakes her head, "Even so, you're still far too late. I'll let this go for now, but if you attempt to pull something like this again, don't be surprised if you're expelled," she chastised.

_Yes. Expulsion. I really appreciate the constant, non-stop… REMINDERS OF MY SITUATION! _Ruby seethed with hidden rage. She took a deep breath and let it out, calming herself and helping her think. "I'm very sorry I disappointed you, Ms. Goodwitch, I promise it won't happen again," she said, bowing deep to the ground.

Goodwitch sighed. "Alright, enough of that. Class is about to start, so I'll show you to your homeroom." Ruby stood up and nodded. Goodwitch walked out of the faculty office and down the hall, Ruby dutifully following behind. Goodwitch stopped abruptly in the middle of the hall. Ruby awkwardly came to a stop beside her, having not expected this. "Alright, listen. When you're introducing yourself to the class, try and be quick about it. We don't need you sharing any unnecessary details."

"R-right. I understand," Ruby replies sheepishly. And like that, they were back on their way. As they were making their way to the classroom, they passed a couple of female students walking together.

"Do you think that's her?"

"You mean the transfer student with the criminal record? It's gotta be. That or her sister, anyway."

Ruby is so lost in thought that she doesn't hear the exchange. After a little more walking, the two of them step into the classroom. Ms. Goodwitch takes up her place behind a podium standing at the front of the room while Ruby stands a little away from her, waiting to be introduce.

The classroom itself is fairly standard. It's a simple square shape and has a multitude of desks lining the center of it. There's a chalkboard at the front and back of the room, and windows line the right wall. There are about twenty-two students in the class, and all of them seem to be looking at her out of the corner of their eye. The heavy gaze everyone sends her makes Ruby anxious, and she has to try to stop herself from fidgeting.

"Alright everyone, settle down," Goodwitch demands, and her voice seems to carry authority. The students do so, and after a moment of silence Goodwitch gestures to her. "We have a new transfer student here with us today. She… um, wasn't feeling well, so we decided to let her attend from the afternoon on…" she finished lamely. Ruby winced but didn't say anything; she couldn't imagine this was any easier for the teacher than it was for her. "Would you please introduce yourself to the class," Ms. Goodwitch asked.

Ruby started before turning to the class, puttin on her best smile. "My name is Ruby Rose. I hope we can all get along," she says cheerfully, hoping her acting was convincing them.

"_That's_ the one with the criminal record? Seriously?"

"She looks so small and harmless, though."

"Maybe it's all an act?"

"Yeah. You let your guard down for a second, and she'll go wild on you."

Whisper much the same to those resonate throughout the classroom, and each word makes more color drain from Ruby's face. _What the hell?! How do they know about my record!? Only the teachers should know about that! _Ruby wondered, completely baffled. Ms. Goodwitch looks almost as surprised as Ruby's feels, and she turns to the poor girl with a look of sympathy. "A-alright, that's enough of that!" she shouts, and once again the class settles. She coughs into her hand and scans the room, though Ruby isn't sure why. "Okay. There doesn't appear to be many seats left, so… why don't you sit over there, behind student council president Nikos," she tells her, pointing to a seat by the window.

Ruby doesn't say anything, she just walks over to the seat wasn't an idiot, she knew her record was permanent and going to follow her wherever she went. Beacon, though, this was supposed to be the _one_ place she could pretend to be normal. She was supposed to struggle making friends at first, but ultimately coming to trust a select few people. She was supposed to be getting praise for smoking everyone on the track team. She was supposed to be Yangs tag along whenever her and her army of friends went hanging out. Now the chances of any of that happening were slim to none, and all because she had some _stupid_ label put on her.

"I remember you…"

The voice came from her left, and Ruby's gaze snapped to it. There was a girl sitting there, with bright red hair and emerald eyes. Ruby recognized her almost immediately. She was the girl she had met earlier, under the awning while it was still raining. The girls words seem to come out of her almost unconsciously, and she isn't even looking at her when Ruby regards her. "You're that girl…" she says back, just as nonsensically. Ms. Goodwitch addresses her and Ruby freezes before quickly taking her seat.

"Hey, do those two know each other?"

"I don't know, maybe they're dating?"

"I doubt it. She must've hit on Nikos before she came here."

"Oh man, imagine what Mr. Watts must think. Everyone knows those two are dating."

"Ugh, that side of the room is totally rotten."

The words wormed into Ruby's head and infecter her like a virus. She tried her hardest to pay attention to what Ms. Goodwitch was teaching, but just as she was starting to focus she would hear a snippet of conversation about her and stop. She hadn't even been in the school for a whole day and already rumours were being thrown around. She beat a person within an inch of their life; she carried a knife on her at all times, some people even suggested she was a member of the freaking _Yakuza_. The vitriol of her fellow students made Ruby feel sick. She almost wanted to stand up and explain the _real_ _story_ to the class, but she knew they wouldn't believe her.

She was lucky enough to have the whole hour pass without being called on by the teacher, and she wondered if Ms. Goodwitch might have done that on purpose. _Who am I kidding? She sees me as just as much of a burden as everyone else here,_ she lamented cynically. Ruby sighed and grabbed her school bag, slowing bringing herself to a standing position. The rest of the students seemed to tense up as she did, and the gesture only brough Ruby further down. She trudged defeatedly through the classroom and slid open the door, stepping out into the hallway.

"Excuse me, Ms. Rose," Goodwitch called out making Ruby stop in her tracks. As she did, an unexpected migraine raged in her skull. Her perception seemed to warp, the hall of the school changing in one lined with red carpeting and stain glass windows.

"Ugh…" she grunted, clutching her head. Everything returned to normal a second later, but that didn't stop Ruby from feeling confused. "Is this place… a castle?" she asked aloud, bewildered.

She wasn't looking at Goodwitch, but she can imagine the look she gave her. "What are you talking about? This is Beacon academy," she replied simply. "...Are you all right?" she asks suddenly.

Ruby shakes her head and turns to face her. "Yeah… I'm just a little tired, I guess," she tells her distractedly, looking off to the side. Eventually her gaze falls back to the blond teacher in front of her.

She returns the gaze, any emotion she felt locked behind her emerald green eyes. "Well, anyway, I thought I might as well tell you to keep your head down. I'm not sure how those students got a hold of your record, but now that they have you'd best keep a low profile," she lectures sternly.

Ruby feels a heat rise up in her stomach, and tries to force her mounting frustration down. It's hard, however. Ruby feels fairly confident Ms. Goodwitch had nothing to do with her leaked information, but it was still _her_ job to keep that knowledge secret, along with the rest of the teachers.

"Hey! What's going on?" a familiar voice asks from behind. Ruby turns around to find herself facing the same blonde boy from before. Jaune smiles brightly and walks up to her, his steps measured and confident. Ruby is relieved by the distraction, she knew she would've done something stupid if he hadn't shown up then.

"Uh, nothing much. I'm still getting situated, you know?" Ruby responds quickly, grasping onto the metaphorical life line he threw her.

"Mr. Arc. I didn't realize you were familiar with Ms. Rose," Goodwitch interjected, and her voice had an unusual edge to it.

Jaune turned his bright smile to her, not missing a beat. "We ran into each other earlier. As the elder, I thought I might as well lend a hand to my junior. There isn't something wrong with that, is there?" he asked innocently.

Ruby suddenly felt very small, like she was a bystander watching a car crash. "Nothing at all. I was just surprised by your association with one another. Although, I would think you have better things to be doing at the moment," Ms. Goodwitch intoned.

Jaune's eyes hardened, though his smile still remained in place. "Yeah… I guess you're right," he said passively as he stepped away. While he was walking by her, he leaned into her ear and said "Meet me on the roof."

Ruby nods subtly before looking back to miss Goodwitch. She imagines Jaune wants to talk about what happened in the castle, and if she's honest so does she. Goodwitch sighs heavily. "I can't believe this…" she drawls while rubbing the bridge of her nose. Her gaze snaps to Ruby and she stiffens. "Listen here. I'm sure it seems great to have a friend at your new school, but trust when I say you shouldn't associate with Mr. Arc."

"And why's that?" Ruby asks a little defensively.

"He's nothing but a problem child. And considering his pension for whistle blowing, I wouldn't be surprised if _he _was the one who leaked your record," she accused. Ruby's eyes widen and she looks off to the side. _She's fishing…_ Ruby realizes. There's no way Jaune could have done that. For one, he was a student-and supposedly a problem child like her-so there was no way he could've gotten a hold on that information. Also, he didn't know even know she was transfering here at all, let alone all the other baggage she was carrying with her. He _could've_ just been a really good liar, but she's doubts it.

"Alright, I'll keep everything you said in mind, Ms. Goodwitch. If you'll excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be…" she told her with a bow. Goodwitch waved her off and Ruby was quick to leave, racing up the stairs to the roof. Normally she would've checked up on Yang-she was dealing with the same thing Ruby was, after all-but this was a special circumstance. She wasn't even sure she could properly explain her supernatural experience to her sister, let alone get her to believe it. But Jaune had gone through it with her, if there was anyone she could to confide in right now, it was him.

She crested the stairs to the roof a second later. A small space sat on the unofficial fourth floor with a door to the ride leading out to the roof. Ruby took that door and found herself greeted by the early fall air. She found Jaune pretty quickly, leaning against a large ventilation unit standing next to a couple of empty desks. Aside from that the roof was pretty barren, and smaller than Ruby expected it to be.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Jaune greeted with a wave.

"...Not so good, honestly," she answered after a moment.

Jaune looked down but didn't reply, it was clear he had heard about it too. "Yeah… I heard the rumours too. You know, about your criminal record…" he led off, clearly uncomfortable approaching the subject.

"I-I know it _seems_ bad, but I promise most of it's not true! And even if-"

"Woah, hold up. You don't have to explain anything to me, I had a feeling most of it was BS. And even if it wasn't-" He gave a goofy grin that brightened Ruby's mood just a touch. "-you saved my life back in that dungeon, so I can't believe you're all that bad."

Ruby feels a smile spread across her lips. An honest one from the bottom of her heart. "I… thanks. For that, I mean. After today… I really needed it."

Jaune claps her on the shoulder. "No problem. I owe you that much after everything that happened today," he clarified. Ruby chuckled a little and shook her head. Deciding to get a little more comfortable, Ruby sat on one of the desks laying around. Jaune returned to his spot leaning on the wall, a small frown on his face. "Though, I guess that's as good a segway as anything to talk about it…"

"The castle, you mean?"

Jaune nodded. "Well, that, yes, but also something else…" he lead off.

"What's that?" Ruby asked curiously.

Jaune looked her dead in the eye. "I think I know who leaked your criminal record."

Ruby's jaw dropped. "What?! How?! And who was it?!" she shrieked.

Jaune patted the air with his hands. "C-calm down for a second! I'm just guessing; I don't know anything for certain…" he told her.

Ruby sighed and her expression dropped. "Sorry for blowing up like that," she apologized. "Anyways. I wanna hear your 'theory', it's probably a better guess than I could make."

"Yeah, No problem." He faced forward. "I think it was Watts who did it."

"You mean that old guy in the castle? You said he was a teacher here, right?"

Jaune nods. "Yeah, Watts teaches physics and english here."

"It's weird to think that he was also the guy who held us captive," she posited. Suddenly her eyes widened. "Oh crap! Do you think he remembers me?! Is _that_ why he told everyone about my record!" she rants.

Jaune shakes his head and Ruby deflates. "No, that's not it. I have a class with him and he was totally normal. I even tried directly talking with him. He was a dick-like he always is-but not at all like he was in that castle."

"Wow. He seriously doesn't remember any of that? Now I have a ton of more questions about the whole thing."

"You're telling me. I mean, completely disregarding everything else about that castle, I just wanna know why it's here," he explains. "Looking exclusively at the facts; that _huge_ castle occupies the same space as this school. We took the exact same route to both places, and yet we ended up in two totally different locations? It's…-"

"-Supernatural…" Ruby finishes.

"Yeah, to say the least."

Ruby holds her hands in front of her. "...I know it seems kind of stupid. But the thing I'm most curious about is those weird powers I used back there."

"I don't think it's that stupid," Jaune assures, turning to face her. "That's been weighing on my mind a lot too. I know I can't actually do the math or anything, but I swear I saw you move faster than a _car_ at one point. That's not physically possible, nor is materializing a scythe out of thin air or a talking cat which walks on it's hind legs."

"Oh yeah, Morgana. His fur was really soft," Ruby added with a smile.

Jaune looked like he was about to say something else, but paused. "...How soft?"

"It's a secret~" Ruby teased, giggling,

"Oh come on! I like cats too, ya know!" he exclaimed indignantly. Ruby laughed; it felt good to do so after such a trying day.

"We-we're getting off topic," Ruby managed after she calmed down. She shakes her head. "You know, since we have so many questions about this castle, maybe we should try going back to it?" she offered.

Jaune turned to regard her with wide eyes, his mouth slightly agape. When five seconds passed and he still hadn't said anything, Ruby tilted her head at him curiously. That seemed to make him regain his composure. "You know, that _might_ not be so terrible an idea. I mean I wouldn't really be able to help you if we ran into something bad, but it's not like we're magically gonna find answers by sitting here and talking."

"I was thinking the same thing. The only problem is… we have no idea how to get there," Ruby pointed out dejectedly.

"Crap, you're right," Jaune realized. He looked off to the side and the two of them were silent for a while. "Damn, it's starting to get late. If it's all the same to you, I think we call it here for tonight and try to find some answers tomorrow. If you want to, that is," he added at the end awkwardly.

"Yeah, I'm down," Ruby assured and stepped off the desk, picking up her school bag along the way. She starts walking toward the rooftop exit.

"Oh, right. One more thing before you go."

Ruby stops and turns to face him. "Yeah?"

"I get we kinda already know each other, but I still want to formally introduce myself. I'm Jaune Arc, it's nice to meet you," he declared with an infectious smile.

She returned it. "And I'm Ruby; Ruby Rose."

"Well, Ruby Rose, I hope we can get along together."

"Me too," she says. And for the first time that day, Ruby finally feels happy.

…

The walk home had been tense. Despite Yang's constant attempts to make her feel better.

After the initial questioning of why she was late-Ruby had given her some crock and bull story to explain it-Yang had been trying to lift her spirits as they made there way to Yongen-Jaya. Ruby appreciated her sister, or course, and it was nice that she was trying to help out. The truth of the matter, though, was that no amount of reassurances could spare her Cinder's wrath. While she was on the train she had received a text from her guardian.

"_We need to talk."_

It was short, simple, and filled Ruby with more anxiety than any four word text should. The rest of the train ride home her stomach had been churning. Cinder hadn't exactly been subtle about her readiness to throw them out if needs be, so Ruby could only imagine how she felt hearing _this_ on their first real day on probation. Her mind raced with the possibilities, imagining many different scenarios that could play out and how she would respond. She tried to come up with a plan in her head, thinking about what would leave her best off. In the end she decided she would just grovel for forgiveness and hope for the best. It was all she could do, really.

"Well, looks like we're here," Yang announced. Ruby's gaze shifted to the two-story building and she sighed. "You know, I can be there with you," she offered, concern maring her face.

Ruby turned to her. "No, it's fine. I mean, try and look at this from her perspective. She's _just_ taken us in, and then the first thing I do under her care is skip school? It doesn't make her look very good, and it certainly doesn't do a whole lot to make her like me…" she lead off.

Yang sighed and scratched her head. "Sometimes I think you're too nice, sis."

Ruby shakes her head and unlocks the door, stepping inside the house. Cinder is already inside, sitting on a couch in the first floor living room. Ruby drops her school bag on a nearby chair. When she feels Yang hovering over her, she gestures for her sister to go upstairs. After a second of hesitation, she does so. Ruby ambles into the living room. There is a couch sitting opposite Cinder, and Ruby takes and looks to her guardian.

"I got a call from your school today," she states, and she does _not_ look pleased.

Ruby gulps, _loudly_. "Y-yeah…" she manages, looking down.

Cinder sighs and closes her eyes, her frustration showing on her face. "I don't have much time to waste on this, so I expect you to listen closely."

Ruby rubs her hands together, fidgeting. "I-I'm so sorry for everything that happened! I promise I didn't mean to-!"

"Stop." Cinder demands, cutting off Ruby's outburst. "I don't care for any explanations or excuses you have to offer me. I'm simply going to tell you what's expected of you, and you are going to meet those expectations," she tells her, and her tone freezes Ruby in her seat. She takes a long drag of her cigar before continuing, and it's only now that Ruby realizes she's smoking. "I'm not sure whether this was supposed to be some sort of petty 'statement' against authority or some other such nonsense, but I suppose it doesn't really matter in the end."

Ruby want to interrupt and say something, but she can tell from the look she's giving her doing so would only upset Cinder further. "I honestly don't care what it is you do under my care. I'm not about to try and control your life; doing so wouldn't benefit me at all," she states, and the declaration surprises her. "However… when you take action that directly affects _my _life, that is something I will not tolerate. In the same way I am giving you the freedom to do as you wish here, I expect the same to be true in return. I _will not_ have the two of you antagonizing me or my livelihood. So, to put this little rant of mine to a close… I am willing to let this discrepancy slide, but it you even _attempt _to do anything that may negatively reflect on me again… I will not be so lenient. Do you understand?"

"Yes. I… understand. Sorry," Ruby tells her, bowing her head slightly.

Cinder takes another drag of her cigar. "Good." She smiles, and the gesture makes Ruby shudder. This is the same as the small grins and cocky smirks Cinder had given her before. This smile was strangely… sinister, as if it had some malevolent intent behind it. Cinder stands before she can process it, exiting the house to return to her job.

Ruby sits there for a while, lost in her thoughts. After some time, she walks up the stairs. Her and Yang eat alone that night, and Ruby retires to bed almost immediately after. As she lays there, she reflects back on everything that happened today.

Ruby turns off her lights and forces herself to sleep. She has a big day tomorrow, after all.

**A.N: I know people will probably find the lack of Yang in the story weird, but I promise that's going to change really soon. I just thought this was the best way to introduce Jaune and the dynamic he's going to have with Ruby. Also, Ruby's awakening! If it wasn't already obvious from the chapter itself, awakenings, Persona's and combat in general are going to be a bit different from how they are in the game. I hope I'm keeping everyone entertained with this. Also, please R & R. Even if it's just a small one to say you enjoyed the story. Getting reviews honestly really helps me feel motivated to keep writing. Which also means quicker updates for you! So it's a win-win! Next chapter will hopefully be as soon as this one. Also might be a little shorter. I'm starting to realize that the content I want to cover with each chapter is turning out to be more than I expect, so I might try to slow down a little from here. **


	3. Rebirth Of Phoenix

**The Phantom Reaper Chapter 3: Rebirth of Phoenix**

"Alright, stop."

Ruby looked up, facing Winter Schnee properly after stopping her tale. "What's the matter?"

"'What's the matter' she says. Are you dense? A castle in another world? A talking cat? Mysterious superpowers? You should know lying will get you nowhere."

Ruby shakes her head. "I'm not lying. I mean, what would I gain from that?" she asks.

Winter regards her curiously. After a moment, she shakes her head. A manilla folder sits next to her. She grabs it and puts it between them, opening it to reveal the dignified and well-groomed face of one Arthur Watts. "Disregarding that for a moment, I want to hear about this man. He was your first target, a winner of the Wolf Prize and fairly big name in the scientific community. Now there is no doubt his crimes were horrible, but I want to know how you pulled this off. Why would someone as intelligent as him willingly confess his own crimes? How did you manage to 'steal his heart'-" she sighs and looks at Ruby sternly once more. "-and if this 'other world' of yours supposedly _does_ exist, how does it factor into this? Tell me everything."

Ruby looks down at the photo, and smirks. "Well… it was one hell of a trial by fire."

…

The day passed by mercifully quick for Ruby. Breakfast that morning had been somewhat of an awkward affair after Cinder's scolding yesterday. After that, though, things had been fairly easy. Her and Yang still had to deal with the rampant rumours about them, of course, but most of them she was able to ignore. She had run into Jaune during lunchtime-it turned out they shared the same one-and after a quick talk they settled on a place to meet after school so they could try and get back to the castle.

Only they weren't going to be the only ones there

"I want to bring someone along with us," Ruby stated, looking at Jaune.

"Another person? I'm not exactly opposed-we could probably use all the help we can get-but who are we talking about?"

"My older sister, Yang," she explains, happy that he was willing to go along with it.

He looked surprised. "I didn't know you had a sister."

Ruby throws up a brow at him. "Really? I'm pretty sure there have been rumours about both of us," she pointed out.

Jaune shrugged. "I honestly don't pay much attention to what goes on around here. If you asked me whether our track team won at the most recent meet, I couldn't tell you."

"So you're unobservant. Geez, _that's_ reassuring," Ruby drawled with a roll of her eyes.

"H-hey, it's not like that! I just care about different stuff than most other people!" he defends.

"Like magical castles filled with monsters?"

"Among other things…" he mumbles.

Ruby shakes her head wistfully. "Getting back on topic. I think Yang deserves to know what's going on, considering it may put us in danger. And even forgetting that, she's tough as nails!" she declares enthusiastically.

Jaune regards her with a cocked eyebrow. "Aren't you a bit of a biased opinion?"

"N-no…"

Jaune laughed, and the gesture made her blush. "Don't worry about it. We'll need all the help we can get, so it's not like I'm gonna say no. And if your sister is anything like you, we're gonna blast through this!" he declared with a smile.

Ruby hugged her knees to her chest. "I'm not that strong…"

Jaune looks at her curiously. "Uh, well, if you say so…" he says awkwardly.

They lull into silence after that.

…

School ends not much longer, and Ruby waits with Yang near the school's entrance. The cool early fall air was the only company they had outside of each other. School had only ended a few minutes ago, so it wasn't like Jaune was making them wait super long.

"So… what's the deal with you and this guy?" Yang asked suggestively.

Ruby groaned. "Please don't. I don't even know him that well; we just happened to run into each yesterday," she explained, hoping Yang would drop it.

"So do you want to know him better?" she asked while wiggling her eyebrows.

Ruby face-palmed.

"Hey there Ruby! Sorry I'm late," Jaune greeted as he jogged up to the two of them.

"It's no problem. We haven't been waiting here long," she assured. She stood up from the wall where she was leaning. "Anyway. This is my older sister Yang," she said, gesturing to her.

Jaune turned to her. "Oh wow. You guys hardly look related," he said bluntly. It looked as though he had said that without really thinking, because his cheeks reddened a second later and he started to sputter out an apology.

"Don't worry about it, everyone makes that mistake at first," she remarks with a wave of her hand. "We're actually half-sisters."

"Our dad gets around a lot," Yang says flippantly, using Ruby's shoulder as an armrest.

Jaune lighted up like a christmas tree. "O-oh! I-I didn't realize it was like that! I-I swear I didn't mean to offend-!"

Yang's loud, raucous laughter cuts him off. "Oh my god, your face! Hahaha!" she cackled, doubling over as she did so. Ruby felt her cheeks heat up and grumbled out something unpleasant. "I'm just messing with you dude! He just remarried, is all. It's not like what you're thinking," she elaborated.

"Yaaaang!" Ruby whined, shaking her sister.

"T-that's a cruel joke to play, ya know!" Jaune exclaimed, pointing at her.

Yang lightly pushed Ruby off and rolled her eyes. "Re-_lax_ you two, I'm just teasing you a bit," she waved off. Ruby grumbled and didn't respond. She loved her sister, but Yang's pension for teasing _really_ got on her nerves sometimes, especially when they were with other people…

"We-we're wasting time here… we have something we need to do today, after all," Jaune stammered, trying to change the subject.

"Speaking of; what is it we're even gonna be _doing_? Rubes just said that she needed me for something, but she never told me _what," _Yang asked.

Ruby and Jaune shared a look, and their postures became a lot more serious. "It's… kind of impossible to explain unless you see it," Ruby mentioned vaguely.

"...We're not going to commit a crime, are we?"

Ruby smacked her sister's arm. "_No!_" she huffed. Ruby groaned and turned to face Jaune. "_Anyway_, did you figure anything out last night?"

Jaune became a lot more animated. "Actually, yeah. I have an idea about it," he told her, and Ruby's spirits brightened.

"Really? Then let's hear it!"

Jaune nodded. "I was thinking about it all last night, and I remembered something that I think might be important. When the two of us finally got out of there, your phone said we had 'returned to the real world' or something like that. So I was wondering… is there anything weird about your phone?" he finished lamely.

Yang tilted her head in confusion, but Ruby's eyes widened comically. She tore out her phone from her pocket and unlocked it in a second. Just as she expected, that same weird app from before greeted her. "This must be it…" Ruby muttered, drawing the attention of the other two. She showed her phone screen to them and pointed at the app. "That app has been appearing on my phone for the last few days. I thought it was just a virus at first, but maybe it has something to do with everything that's been going on?"

Yang scratched her head. "I'm confused. What the hell are you guys going on about?"

"Can I see your phone for a second?" Jaune asked, completely ignoring Yang. She did so without question, and Jaune opened up the app. "Huh… I'm surprised my guess was right," he mumbled, cupping his chin in thought.

"What's up? Did you figure something out?" Ruby asked.

He nodded. "Check it out. This thing is-supposedly-a navigation app. I thought this might be the case whenever you mentioned it, but now that I know I'm pretty sure I understand how this thing works," Jaune explained.

"Really?"

"Yeah. On the surface, it appears like a totally normal navigation app. There's even a function for your search history," he told her, gesturing with his hand. "Look at this, though. _This_ is your supposed 'search history' with this app," he said, showing it to her.

Ruby gasped in surprise. "Watts, Beacon academy and… castle. You don't think-?!"

"Oh yes I do. I'll bet we can use this weird app to get back there!" Jaune cheered, cutting her off.

"I _really_ wish you would let me in on the loop. I'm so lost," Yang complained.

Ruby and Jaune shared a look, and then turned to her. "Okay Yang. We're about to leave. But when we do, I want you to promise me that you won't freak out. Things are about to get pretty wild."

"I'd be a lot less likely to 'freak out' if I knew where we were going," she jabbed.

"Yang." Ruby stated simply, looking her sister dead in the eye.

She seemed to notice how serious her sister was being, and her expression morphed accordingly. "Alright. I promise I won't flip out," she assures.

Ruby nods. "Good. Then let's do this thing." Ruby declares, pressing the activation button on the app.

"_Beginning Navigation._" Her phone chirped, and the world fell away around them.

When things came back into focus, they were standing outside of the haunting castle Watts supposedly ruled over. Looking down, she noticed she was wearing the same strange clothes she had when she had awakened to her power here. The place looked exactly the same way as they had left it. For a second Ruby wondered where Morgana might be, but that thought was soon squash out by other things.

"What the hell just happened!?" Yang shrieked, looking around them frantically. "Where are we?! What happened to the school?! Why are your clothes different?!" she fired off.

"What about that promise _not_ to freak out?" Jaune snarked.

"Oh shut up! When you made me promise that, I wasn't expecting _this_," she exclaims, gesturing around her. "I was thinking something along the lines of 'Yang, there's someone I like', 'Yang, I have a boyfriend', or hell maybe even 'Yang, I'm pregnant', _not _'Yang, I want to take you to a _magic castle'_!" she ranted.

"Uh, is she normally so… articulate?" Jaune asked awkwardly, turning to Ruby.

She sighs. "I hate it when she gets like this…"

"Quiet! The shadows outside will hear you!" a familiar voice cried. Ruby and Jaune's gaze snapped to the left. There, the bulbous head of a familiar cat creature greeted them, peeking over the side of a wall.

"Morgana!" Ruby cheered, getting Yang's attention. Morgana stepped out from behind his cover and approached them.

"So you guys decided to come back here? I can't really tell if that makes you brave or stupid," he criticized.

"Alright, what the _fuck?_ What the hell is this?!" Yang asked exasperatedly.

"Him? Oh, don't worry, that's just Morgana. He helped us get out of here when we came last. He's… well, actually I don't really know anything about him, now that I think about it," Jaune realized, turning to the cat.

"I see you brought some more people with you this time," Morgana observed, turning to Ruby.

She shrugged. "If we were coming back here, I figured we'd need all the help we could get, so I brought my sister."

The cat sighed. "If this were normal circumstances, you'd be right. But in here _you're_ the only one who can fight shadows. These two are essentially dead weight," he explained.

"What was that?! You wanna fight?!" Yang exclaimed.

"No, he's right. We're essentially useless here," Jaune said in an attempt to calm her down. "When Ruby and I first escaped out of here, I couldn't do anything but hide and run away from the creepy monsters they have here," he explained.

"Monsters? What are you going on about?" Yang growled, "Alright, enough games! You two are gonna explain _everything_ to me. And if you leave anything out there'll be hell to pay!"

There's a loud clanking sounding off from the side of him, and Morgana looks around shiftily. "Okay, okay! But we've gotta get outta here first! If we wait any longer the shadows are gonna find us!" he cries. Jaune and Ruby stiffen, and Yang just tilts her head in confusion.

"Lead the way, Morgana. You seem to know what you're doing," Ruby says. He nods and starts leading them through the courtyard. The three teens follow closely behind as he escorts them. Ruby isn't immediately sure where they're going, but realizes pretty quickly when he stops in front of an open ventilation shaft.

"Isn't this where we left from last time?" Jaune noticed.

Morgana turned to him. "Yes. It's like I said before. The room on the other side of this is hardly ever patrolled by shadows, so it makes a good infiltration point," he explains.

"That's nice and all, but maybe we should get _inside_ this safe place instead of standing around it," Yang points out. Ruby shrugs and walks over, helping Jaune boost his way up there. Yang goes next, and just as Ruby is about to help Morgana the cat dexterously leaps into the small space all by himself.

"Show off…" Ruby mutters, before heading inside herself. It's strange; in this 'Metaverse' as Morgana called it, she felt… better. Stronger, faster, more coordinated, it felt like she was the same person she'd always been, but she had been… upgraded, in some way. "Ruby mark 2," she jokes to herself as she crawls through the vent. When she emerges on the other side, Jaune, Yang and Morgana are already situated.

Ruby drops down into the room, getting the attention of everyone inside. Yang stands up and crosses her arms. "Alright, no more stalling. I want to know what this is all about," Yang demands. Ruby isn't about to refuse her; she has a right to know after all. It takes her a while to walk her through the entire experience, from entering the castle to her awakening to meeting Morgana and escaping. When she's finally done, Yang speaks. "So you guys wanted to learn more about this place, and took me along as backup…"

Ruby winces. "Yeah, basically…"

Yang shrugs. "Okay, I get it." Ruby blinks. She wasn't expecting Yang to be so accepting. She had essentially just thrown her in the deep end when she didn't know how to swim. "Hey, I'm not about to let you do something this dangerous alone," Yang assured, seemingly sensing her disbelief.

"Speaking of… Morgana, you said last time you'd be willing to explain all this to us. Well, now's the time for explaining," Jaune demanded, turning to the cat creature.

"Alright, blondie, I'll explain it to you, I am a man of my word after all," he told them. Morgana hopped up onto one of the barrels so he was level with them. "All right you three, listen up! I don't like repeating myself all that much," he said with a condescending tone. Jaune and Yang seemed to take issue with it but Ruby didn't much too much. She leaned along the wall and turned to face him. "I'll answer what I assume is your most pressing question; what is this place? To put it as simply as I can, this place is the manifestation of someone's distorted desire's in the real world."

"_That's_ supposed to be simple. How do you expect us to follow that?!" Yang loudly complained.

"I… I think I get it, actually," Jaune said, grabbing her and Yangs attention. "Well, I think it's like this. All of us have thoughts, dark thoughts, that we choose to repress because we might do something bad. Take me, for example. I like to think I'm a good person, but sometimes I'll meet someone and think something along the lines of, 'man, I _really_ want to beat the crap out of this guy'. Now, I wouldn't actually _do_ that, but it doesn't stop me from thinking that. My guess is, whenever someone actually _gives in_ to those dark thoughts, a place like this is created. Is that about right, Morgana?"

The cat nodded. "You're pretty quick on the uptake, blondie. That's pretty much it, yeah,"

"Wow. It's kinda surprising how much easier you made that to understand," Yang pointed out.

"It's not _my _fault you're more dense than a rock!" Morgana huffed indignantly. Ruby giggled at the exchange. She was kinda inclined to agree with the cat, though. Her sister wasn't dumb by any means, but she had trouble wrapping her head around more difficult concepts.

"If we could get back on track a bit, I have a question, Morgana," Jaune interjected, avoiding an argument between Yang and the cat.

"Shoot."

"This place… Watts is supposed the be the 'king' of it, right?"

"Watts? You mean that physics teacher from Beacon?" Yang interrupted.

Jaune nodded. "Yeah that's him. Anyway, Morgana?"

"Right. Watts is the ruler of this place. It's _his_ castle. It was born from his distorted desires in the real world. This place is supposed to be a school in reality, yeah?" The three of them nodded. "I thought so. _This_ is how Watts' distorted heart views the school, as his own personal castle," Morgana explained.

"Wait a second. Does that mean there's a connection between this place and Watts in the real world?" Ruby added, entering the conversation.

Morgana nodded. "You're pretty sharp, highlights. Yes, there's no doubt the version of himself in this castle and in reality are intrinsically tied to each other."

"Do-does that mean the bad stuff he does in here, might be reflective of what he's doing in the real world…?" Jaune asked. Ruby's eyes widen; she hadn't even considered that possibility.

Morgana's features hardened. "That's absolutely possible. Not everyone who has distorted desires has to be bad. Like blondie explained earlier _everyone_ has messed up thoughts. But chances are if someone does have a place like this-I've taken to calling them Palaces-then they're bad news."

Jaune scowled and clenched his fists. "I knew it! So it wasn't just for nothing…" he says, more to himself then them. Ruby looks at him curiously. Now that she thinks about, Jaune has seemed unusually invested in this whole thing. Simple curiosity she could understand, but right now he almost seemed to have it out for Watts. He turns to the two of them. "Guys, I think we should check this place out further. I mean, we could find something here that links Watts to his crimes in the real world! We can-"

"Hold on a second there buster; this wasn't what you guys wanted. The plan was to come in here and figure out what this place was, right? Well now we've done that. We've got no reason to stay in this dangerous place. It's pretty clear you've got a problem with this guy, but if you think I'm gonna let you put Ruby in danger so you can fulfill some personal vendetta, then you've got-"

"No, Yang. He's right," Ruby says, interrupting her in turn. "If this Watts guy is doing something bad, then we have to do something to stop him. We can't just let him do whatever he wants! Especially if it's hurting other people," Ruby declares. She's reminded of a moment down in the cells of this place, when Arsene had asked her a very important question.

"_Was your previous decision a mistake then?"_

It wasn't. It still wasn't. It never would be, and this wasn't a mistake either.

Jaune shuffled awkwardly. "Um, you _do_ realize Watts literally teaches at the school you and your sister are going to. She's not exactly any safer there then she would be here if he's doing some shady shit," he points out.

Yang blanches. "Oh… I hadn't thought of that…"

Ruby sighs and face-palms, turning to the cat. "Morgana, would you be willing to guide us down to the dungeon again? We need to get to the bottom of this."

Morgana, who had remained silent during the last exchange, suddenly grinned madly. "I like your style, highlights. Alright, I'll help. I'm sure you'd be lost without my guidance anyways." he says in what Ruby is quickly realizing to be his signature condescending tone.

Ruby turns to the door that led outside. "Let's do this!" she declares, taking up a stance. Her gaze slides over to Jaune, who looks noticeably more driven.

Personal Vendetta or not…

…

Their journey proved to be rather uneventful. That was, until, this very moment.

There was a shadow around the corner. Ruby peeked around to observe the large suit of armour which concealed the creatures true form. "Alright," Morgana whispers, taking up space below her. "I'm gonna teach you the basics of fighting in this world since I didn't really get the opportunity too last time," he explains.

"Okay… what do you want me to do?" she whispers back.

Morgana inclines his head to the shadow. "The easiest way to take down a shadow is by exposing the monster within. To do that, you need to tear the mask off of its shell."

Ruby started. "You want me to just rip that thing off?!"

"Calm down, it's not as hard as it sounds. That thing will pop off like the cap to a soda bottle if you get a good grip on it. There's also an advantage to doing it this way. If you do everything successfully, the shadow will be super scared and confused, so I'll be able to swoop in there and kill it while it's distracted!" he exclaimed cheerfully, still keeping his voice low.

Ruby wasn't entirely convinced. Even so, it wasn't like she had anything to lose. "Alright. Here goes…" she said shakily, gulping. She took a deep breath, and dashed around the corner. She activated her semblance almost immediately after doing so, speeding down the hallway in a flash. She was on the shadow before anyone even had the chance to blink. Her feet planted firmly on it's shoulders and her hand shot forth, wrapping around the sides of the stone mask covering the knight's 'face'.

"What the-?!" the shadow cried, flailing around.

"Give me your mask!" Ruby cried, _tearing_ the thing from it's face with a powerful yank. The shadow's outer form immediately broke apart, turning into a pile of black sludge right underneath her feet. She was quick to react, flipping backwards and landing on her feet dexterously. Morgana was on top of it before she even had time to observe it's form. His saber licked out, severing the shadows head much the same way he had before.

Morgana turned back to her and his saber disappeared once again. "Nice job. That shadow didn't know what him 'em!" he exclaimed happily.

Ruby smiled. "Yeah, the mask came off super easy, just like you said."

"It's odd. We're already on the second level of this place, but I still haven't seen any 'prisoners'," Jaune observed, stepping into the open with Yang. Despite Morgana's claims to the opposite, the two of them hadn't weighed Ruby down at all. At least, she thought so.

"I'd imagine they're in the torture hall."

"This place has a _torture hall_?" Yang asked incredulously.

"Yeah, it's on the lowest floor. I've been leading you there," Morgana responded.

"Oh yes, and thank you _so_ much for that," she snarked.

"Hey, you were the ones who wanted to know what was up with Watts! I'm just leading you to the place that's most likely to happen," he huffed indignantly. Yang wilted and didn't respond, conceding the point.

Ruby shook her head and turned to the cat. "Where should we go from here?" she asked.

Morgana gestured over his shoulder. "Follow me, I'll lead the way," he says, gesturing over his shoulder. He started off down a drawbridge. Ruby and the others were quick to follow him, easily keeping pace with the cat. Once they crossed the drawbridge Morgana started leading them down a hallway. It took a second, but Ruby realized that this was the same area they had been in before, when her and Jaune first met Morgana.

The sound of metal boots clanking drew Ruby out of her thoughts. "Aw crap, is that more shadows?" Ruby asked, looking to Morgana.

"Yeah… and quite a bit of them," he told her. The cat abruptly turned to his left, facing a large wooden door. "In here! We'll be safe from them as they pass," he reassures. Ruby doesn't have much reason to doubt him, and pushes inside with Yang and Jaune. The four of them find themselves in a room with a large table in the center of it and some barrels off to the side.

"Great, now we have no exit if they _do_ come in here. Why was this your plan?!" Yang remarks.

Morgana presses his ear to the door to listen in. "Don't worry, that's not possible. The effects of distortion are incredibly weak here, so it's impossible for shadows to show up or come inside," he explains. As if on cue, the world around them twisted and warped. For just a second, Ruby though she could see a normal classroom, but it was gone just as quick as it came.

"If this place is supposed to be a classroom, it makes sense that Watts' influence would be limited. He can't really do much to students who aren't in his class, or aren't members of the academic decathlon team…" Jaune posited. The last part was mumbled, as if they weren't supposed to hear it. Ruby and Yang exchanged a glance, but didn't say anything. Whatever Jaune was facing… it was his business.

"Now that we have the time to talk, I might as well fill you in on some of the intricacies of the cognitive world," Morgana announced, having hopped up onto the wooden table in the center of the room.

"If I'm gonna have to fight more of those shadows, that'd probably be a good thing," Ruby comments.

Morgana nods. "I'll start there then. I'm sure you're curious why your clothes changed, right?"

Yang crossed her arms. "I'm curious as hell about it myself. I mean, what's with the goth look, sis? Is there something you wanna tell me…?" she teased.

"No, you dunce. It's more complicated than that," Morgana scolded. "Everybody has a mask deep within their heart that they wear in order to protect themselves from distortions. When that mask is removed-like what happened when highlights awakened to her power-then the user gains the will of rebellion. Ruby's clothes are what her heart sees as a true rebel, and they help protect her mind and body against the distortions of the Palace."

"I-I don't got any idea what you're sayin'," Yang admits.

"Of course _you_ don't. Jaune, you understand, right?"

He makes a so-so motion. "More or less. Ruby's clothes help keep her mind from breaking due to all the stress, and stop her from dying in one hit to the shadows attacks."

"How come you're able to grasp this so quickly?!" Yang huffed indignantly.

"Maybe it's just that _you're_ slow," Morgana teased. Yang growled and looked prepared to say something back.

"I have a question!" Ruby blurts out, hoping to avoid a fight.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah… back when we first fought together, you did that weird thing with your sword. How did you do it? Is that your 'semblance' or whatever?" She asked.

Morgana shook his head. "No. My semblance is… complicated, but it's not related to what I did before. _That_ was all the Dust I was using," he explains.

"Dust? What's that?"

Morgana reaches into one of the poaches on his belt and draws out a small veil. The veil has a strange green powder in it that shimmers in the light of the room. "Dust is an elemental energy that shadows leave behind when they die. It can be used to imbue weapons and objects with one of eight different forms. What you're looking at right now is wind Dust. It's my preformed form of Dust, but the others are fire, ice, electricity, nuclear, psychokinetic, bless and curse."

"Woah. That's pretty wicked!" Jaune exclaimed, a grin forming on his face. Ruby couldn't help but agree. Elemental energy that could be used to make her stronger? That sounded like something she could use if they were going to keep exploring this place.

"More stuff that doesn't make any sense," Yang lamented.

"It's like Pokemon, sis," Ruby said for her benefit.

Her eyes lighted up. "Oh, I get it now! That _is_ pretty cool!" she cheered. Ruby smiled and shook her head.

Morgana's expression turned rather bright as well. "And that's not all," he assured them. They all looked to him in confusing. "Ruby, haven't you been wondering why your scythe has a trigger on it?" he asked her.

Ruby 'unsheathed' her scythe and rested her finger on the exact trigger he was talking about. "Oh yeah. I was curious about that…"

Morgana crossed his arms. "Well, to put as simply as I can for lion's mane over here. Your scythe is also a gun."

All three of them paused.

"Um, what?" Jaune asked, just as lost as Yang for once.

"I'm serious. Every person who possesses a semblance gets a weapon to go along with it. That weapon is capable of both melee and ranged attacks to best help the wielder defend themselves against shadows," Morgana told them. Ruby looked down at her scythe. At all the intricacies and the pieces of technology that lined it. Curious, Ruby started to squeeze the trigger. "M-maybe don't do that right now!" Morgana cried, and Ruby stopped immediately.

Red bloomed in her cheeks. "Oh, right. _Probably_ not a good idea to fired a gun-scythe in an enclosed space," Ruby admitted bashfully, making the weapon disappear. Everyone in the room let out a sigh of relief, and it only made Ruby feel more embarrassed.

Morgana hopped off the table and trotted to the door, pressing his ear against it and listening. "Okay, it sounds like the coast is clear."

"Just a second, Morgana. I have one more question," Jaune blurts out.

"Sure, go ahead."

"You've been talking about this 'semblance' thing a lot so… what exactly is it?"

Morgana turns to face the blond. "Oh, that's easy enough. Since you were there, I'm sure you noticed there was another being with Ruby when she awakened to her power, right?"

Jaune nodded. "Yeah. It was pretty creepy, actually."

"Well. Whenever she signed a contract with her Persona, they gave her their power, which is called a semblance," Morgana clarified.

"And I'm guessing my semblance is super speed, right?" Ruby asked, interjecting.

"Yep. You got it."

"Good to know…" Ruby stated simply. She's reminded of Arsene's words. "_With my speed you will always be fast enough to save those in need of it."_ That's what he had said, and she supposed she was now putting that power of his to use. Morgana pushed the doors open a second later, and the four of them stepped through into the hallway from before. It was empty now, thankfully, so they were quick to proceed before any shadows might come back. Morgana was keeping his word, it seemed. He was leading them deeper into the castle, where Ruby imagined much of the 'slaves' would be. It was unsettling, to think that a teacher could see his own students as nothing more than slaves, but she supposed that was why they were here.

To find out what the man named Watts might be hiding in the shadows…

…

They had gotten through without much trouble, and Yang was definitely thankful for that.

She was just starting to wrap her head around this whole 'other world' business, so she understood that her little sister was the only one of them who could really fight these things. These 'shadows' or whatever the hell Morgana called them. Still… that didn't mean she had to like it. Regardless, Ruby looked like she could hold her own pretty well. Despite being an 'amature' to use Morgana's words, her little sister had torn through the few monsters they had come across.

She had even used her scythe's gun function to take one down in a single hit. Apparently, Ruby's weapon was also a freaking _sniper rifle._ Because what the hell else would you put in a farmers tool, right? Aside for _that_ little revelation, the path to the torture hall had remained fairly abandoned. Yang was glad that was the case; she didn't want Ruby in any more danger than she had to be, especially when she couldn't really help her.

They were right outside of it now. Watt's 'Hall of Higher Education' as it said on the sign hanging above the place. "So were here now. What's the plan?" Yang asked, turning to Jaune unimpressed. If she were being honest, she didn't quite know how she felt about Ruby's new friend. He seemed nice enough, but it felt like he was using Ruby to explore this place. Sure, she had agreed with him when he brought it up, but it was clear he had a personal stake in this.

"We get in. See if there's anything in there that would confirm Watts' is doing something illegal, and then use it to get him arrested in the real world," he offered.

Morgana turned to him, surprised. "Wow, I'm impressed. You thought this out more than I thought you would," he praised.

That was one thing Yang would give the guy; he seemed smart as shit. Yang was self aware enough to admit she wasn't exactly the smartest person in any given situation, but Jaune almost felt unapproachable, academically speaking.

"Sounds like a plan. I'm in," Ruby stated, sharing her own opinion. Yang wasn't about to speak up and seem like an asshole _now_, so she just stayed quiet and followed them inside. If she were being honest, it wasn't too awful a plan anyway. It minimized the risks the four of them would be facing while also giving them the opportunity to see if this guy was doing anything creepy.

That was another thing Yang was still trying to figure out. She had barely interacted with Watts during her first day-having been too distracted by the revelation that everyone knew about her and Ruby's record-but if he actually _was_ hurting people, hurting _students_, Yang sure as hell wasn't about to stand by and let that happen.

The torture hall sure as hell lived up to its name…

There were people-_young_ people-everywhere. All of them were behind cells, but some were more worse for wear than others. A group of them were taking a test trapped in some demented reflection of a classroom that electrocuted them whenever they got a wrong answer. Another student was hung upside down and being pelted with fire balls. Others were simply huddled alone in their cells, covered in bruises and bleeding from parts of their body.

"What the fuck…? This is sick," Yang expressed breathlessly.

"God dammit. I _knew_ it! I knew that sick son of a bitch was doing something to his students!" Jaune growled, clenching his fists. Anger seems to pour off of him in waves, but Yang completely understands. If Watts' actions were even _half_ as graphic in the real world as they were here, than Beacon academy wasn't quite the honorable prep school it made itself out to be.

Ruby reached out, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Calm down Jaune. We're gonna gonna save them all, remember? So you don't have to worry," she said softly. Jaune seemed to relax at her words, releasing his clenched fists and loosening up.

"Okay… sorry for flipping out on you there," he responds simply, his gaze falling on the victims. Yang raised an eyebrow. _Is something there?_ She wondered. Ruby had never been very interested in romance, but that didn't mean she didn't like people. It was just hard to tell weather this was just Ruby being her normal, overly empathetic self or if she was actually interested. Then again considering she had only known him for a day she was guessing it was the former. "Anyway, we should probably get to work. I'm thinking if we take pictures of this, we can use that as grounds to have him kicked from the school, or maybe even arrested," Jaune announced, getting her attention again.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," she says, pulling out her phone. "Huh? This is weird."

"What's up?" Ruby asks.

Yang flashed her phone to her and Jaune. "My phone says there's no service-which I kinda expected honestly-but I can't even use my camera app," she explains.

"That is weird. Mine isn't working either," Jaune adds, looking at his own phone.

"Same here," Ruby says.

Jaune pockets his phone. "That's frustrating." He sighs and closes his eyes, pinching the bring of his nose. "Alright. If these guys are suppose to be people from our school, then I'll just memorize their faces so I can ask them about it in the real world."

"Wait a second, aren't we going to help these people?" Ruby asked, concerned.

"Don't worry about it Ruby. Morgana said that this world was simply how Watts _perceives_ the school, which leads me to believe these guys aren't actually real. Am I on the mark?" He asked, turning to the cat.

Morgana nodded. "Yep; your friend is surprisingly insightful. These beings are just cognitions of real people created by Watts. They aren't like you or me,"

"Uuuuh-"

"They're not real. That's all you really need to know," Ruby clarified. Yang shrugged and went along with it, willing to let it go if it meant getting out of here sooner.

"Alright. Just give me a second to memorize these faces and then we'll be on our way out of here," Jaune assures them, already looking into one of the cells.

"Don't be so sure," an imposing voice says to the left of them. Yang's head whips to the side where she finds a worrying sight. It's another shadow, only this one's armour is a shining gold instead of a dull grey. Yang isn't sure what that's suppose to mean, but it feels significant.

"A shadow?! How the hell did it sneak up on us?!" Ruby cried.

"It didn't. It just appeared out of nowhere! Dammit, I knew we had been here too long!" Morgana cursed, drawing his saber. Ruby's scythe appeared in her hands as well, and she dropped into a fighting stance. The golden knight broke apart-much like the other shadows-and faded away to reveal its real form.

This one looked surprisingly man-like. It had a tall, muscular body which was a light red in color. It's head looked like that of an owl, with golden feathers and wide eyes, and now that she was paying attention she noticed its feet were bird-like as well. "What the hell…? This place keeps getting weirder," Yang muttered.

"Yeah, and more dangerous for us in the process!" Jaune exclaimed, pulling her behind one of the cells. Yang was about to protest, but the spot where she'd been exploded with shards of ice a second later.

"...Thanks," she said, looking to Jaune. He nods but doesn't say anything back. Yang and him peek around the side, trying to stay behind the cover of the cell. Thankfully, it looked like Ruby and Morgana were fine. The two of them were standing off to the side, having avoided the onslaught of ice easily enough. Ruby disappeared, flanking around the shadows side with her semblance and lashing out. The shadows was quick to react, though, hoping back to avoid her assault. Before it could make to attack, Morgana leaped into action, slashing at it with his blade.

The shadow was pushed back, avoiding most of Morgana's blows while only taking superficial wounds from the ones that did land. Ruby made to attack, but before she could close the distance it threw its arms out, unleashing a whirlwind of ice on the two of them. The sudden assault caught both Ruby and Morgana off guard. "Aah!" Ruby cried, flying backward about five feet before crashing to the ground.

"Ruby!" Yang screamed, making to dash from behind her cover.

Jaune caught her arm before she could. "Hold on a second! You're going to get yourself hurt!"

She threw her arm back, getting out of his hold easily. "Shut up! My sister is in trouble!"

"All the more reason she doesn't need any distractions. Like her sister running out and getting herself killed," Jaune emphasized. Yang grits her teeth, frustration pooling in her. As much as she hated it, Jaune was right. She couldn't hope to do anything against that thing. "She can do this, I know that," he declared.

Yang bit her lip and looked back to the battle. Ruby was on the backfoot, flipping and twirling away from a seemingly endless barrage of ice attacks. Morgana was attempting to provide support with his Dust, but the shadow hardly seemed fazed by it. "Dammit. Come on Ruby…"

Her sister flashed forward, appearing in front of the shadow with her semblance. Her blade sliced forward, but it was quick enough to duck under the attack. Ruby grit her teeth and brought her weapon back around, attacking with the spear point at the end. "Raagh!" Ruby roared, the point _slamming_ into the side of the shadows head.

"Yes!"

"A solid hit!" Yang and Jaune both cheered at the same time.

Their words of praise were short lived.

The shadow spun around, rolling with the weight of the blow. Then he lashed out, his elbow connecting with Ruby's ribs before she had a chance to avoid it. Similar to before, her sister was sent flying backward, landing on the floor in a heap.

"No!"

"This isn't good."

"Dammit. I'll cut you open!" Morgana shouted, leaping into the fray. Yang grit her teeth and tried to keep herself from running to her sister. It was hard, incredibly so, but Jaune's words still held true, even now.

"Is there really nothing I can do…?"

"_That's up to you."_

"Ngh!" Yang exclaimed, dropping to one knee. The voice had seemed to come from inside her head, and with it came a splitting headache.

"_You have someone you wish to protect, right? Or maybe someone you want to prove yourself too?"_

The voice continued on. And the longer it droned the worse the pain in Yangs head got. She gritted her teeth and growled, trying to focus on something-anything-else. But she couldn't. The only things that she could comprehend right now was the voice in her head and the growing migraine.

"_You lack the power to do these things, though. Don't worry, that's why I'm here. You, who are conflicted by your desires and responsibilities, will finally decide your path! I am thou, thou art I! It is time for thou to cast aside thy false self, and be reborn!"_

"Aaargh!" Yang wailed as the pain in her head spiked. She clutched at the sides of her head, and was surprised to find something resting there. It was a thick mask that covered the area around her eyes and her forehead. It extending off the sides of her face, three feather like appendages jutting out from either side. A bright gold in color, the thing almost matched the same shade as her hair.

Yang panted and drew herself to a stand. "No way… is this…?" Jaune drawled from behind her. Yang reached up and dug her fingers into the thing, letting out a grunt a pain at the feeling of tearing flesh. She refused to let that stop her, however, as she gripped the bird-like mask tightly.

"I… will _not_… let you… hurt my sister!" she screeched, _ripping_ the mask from her face in one go. An _explosion_ of azure flames lighted the enclosed space of the pathway, grabbing the attention of everyone present. When they faded away, Yang was standing tall, two bright golden gauntlets secured around her hands.

"_So have you finally found your path?"_ an easy-going voiced drawled to the side of her.

Yang turned to face him. Standing behind her was a large skeletal figure with a pirate get up. A large black hat sat atop his head while a couple of belts fell across his chest. A tattered red coat hung upon his shoulders and a pair of jet black pants covered his legs. The skeletal figure stood atop a scaled down version of a ship resembling that of old england. Her eyes hardened and she clenched her fists. "Yes. I was confused for the longest time, but now I know what I need to do!"

The skeleton pirate smiled. "_Then let us form a pact. My strength shall give you the power to take any punishment, while allowing you to give it back tenfold! The semblance that was once clouded by thy own false judgement will ignite! Thou hast acquired the strength of will to wield Ember Celica! I am thou-!"_

"Thou art I. Let's tear 'em apart, Captain Kidd!" Yang exclaimed, a smile slipping onto her lips. The captain's form fell on top of hers, seeming almost entirely transparent.

"No! I won't let you!" cried the voice of the shadow. In all of the commotion, they had completely forgotten about it. Ruby pushed herself up to a shaky stand, prepared to stop the thing before it could hurt her. It raced past her however, completely ignoring Ruby in favour of taking down Yang.

She wasn't about to make it easy.

Her clothes ignited into azure flames, and when they fell away the Captain was gone and she was dressed entirely different than before. A tan jacket which showed off her midriff covered a low cut yellow crop top. A brown belt looped around her waist and a golden emblem resembling that of a fire hung from it. A brown half skirt hung from her waist with a pair of black mini-shorts underneath. A grey bandana tied around her leg lead into a pair of knee-high brown boots. An orange infinity scarf and black fingerless gloves were the finishing touches.

The shadow made to strike at her, but she moved before it could, Her fist rocketed out, striking the shadow in the ribs. As she struck him, she jerked her first slightly, and a loud blast barked out from her gauntlet. Shotgun spray lighted up the owl-creature, throwing him back into the wall nearly ten feet away. Yang thrusts forward with her opposite hand before drawing back, releasing the spent shell from her gauntlet.

"Okay, everybody. I'm gonna bust loose!"

**A.N: Soooo… this ended kind of abruptly. Even so, I feel this is a decent enough way to end things. Also I was not wrong about my content comment last chapter. When I started this one I was expecting it to be 14 pages at **_**most**_**. Now I'm sitting with close to 23 and I'm still feeling like there isn't enough. Anyway, more of the mechanics of the world are explained here. I'm not entirely sure if everything I said was accurate because I'm not exactly fact checking everything I say. More than that, I feel like I'm gonna have trouble trying to write Yang's segments. If you couldn't already tell, I'm using her as kind of a substitute for Ryuji, and I'm just not very good at writing as characters who are supposed to be kind of dumb. I just can't seem to grasped how that kind of person would describe the events happening. R & R and all that, I really appreciate that stuff. Chapter 4 might be shorter, might be longer, depends on when I feel I hit a good stopping point. Also I noticed in the review one of the people mentioned how the story starting during fall was inaccurate. And to that I only have to say… opps. I'm not fact checking everything like I said before, so if things were meant to start earlier than that's my B. It won't affect the story at all. **


	4. The Knight's Resolve

**The Phantom Reaper Chapter 4: The Knight's Resolve**

The shadow rose to a shaky stand, Yang's previous blow having clearly rattled it.

"Sorry. Not gonna let that happen," Morgana quipped, taking the shadows head with a clean slice. It's body disappeared into nothing a second later, leaving the four of them safe and alone. Yang exhaled harshly, suddenly feeling a little weary. She stumbled for a second, but Jaune was quick to support her.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Just feel a little woozy is all," Yang waved him off, standing on her own. Ruby crashed into her a second later, taking them both to the ground.

"Thank goodness you're okay, I was so worried there! Also, that was awesome! I mean you took that thing down in one punch!" Ruby praised, clinging to her sister.

"Hey, I was the one who finished it off ya know!" Morgana cried out, trotting over to them.

Jaune chuckled and rubbed the top of the cat's head. "Of course. How could we ever forget your contributions?" he remarked. Morgana scowled and threw Jaune's hand off him before turning to Yang.

"Still. Who would've guessed she had a semblance as well."

Yang untangled Ruby from her and stood. "I guess that means I had an 'awakening' or whatever. Hey Ruby, did you hear a voice in head too?" she asked, turning to the younger girl.

She nodded. "Yeah. Arsene started rattling off stuff in my head; next thing I know I'm carving shadows up with Crescent Rose here," she comments, presenting the scythe.

"Man. I'm suddenly feeling a lot more insecure about being here standing next to you three," Jaune says sheepishly.

"I hate to bring the mood down, but we really oughta get out of here. I imagine more shadows are gonna show up if we keep dilly dallying," Morgana chirps.

Yang slams her fists together. "Let 'em come! I'll tear them apart!" she exclaims.

Ruby waves her hand placatingly. "I don't mind the enthusiasm, but I'd bet you're feeling pretty winded after what just happened, so I think we should listen to Morgana."

"I agree. Especially with me weighing you guys down," Jaune remarks, looking into one of the cells. He nods and walks away, turning to them. "All right. I've memorized most of their faces. Now we can get to the real world and expose Watts for the bastard he really is!"

Ruby rolls her shoulder. "I'm not about to say no. That last guy did a real number on me," she bemoans.

Yang turns to her sister, concerned. "Are you sure you're all right, Rubes? I saw that shadow land some hard hits."

Ruby waves her off. "I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me," she assures. Yang isn't so sure she believes her, and considers it all the more reason to get out of this place.

"Here. Catch," Morgana suddenly says, tossing Ruby a small glass veil. She starts but is quick to react and catch it. She holds it up; the veil looks to have some sort of transparent liquid in it.

"What's think?" she asks.

"It's called Aura. It's a healing liquid that can mend words and relieve fatigue. I have one for you too Yang," the cat added, tossing her a veil as well.

She looks at it for a second, tilting the veil from side to side, before she shrugs and opens it. "Bottoms up," she quips, downing the beverage. Almost immediately she feels a lot more attentive, as if the exhaustion that had been plaguing her had simply faded away.

Ruby rolls her shoulders and hops up and down. "Wow. I actually do feel a lot better now," she remarks.

Morgana smirks. "That's the wonders of Aura. I keep plenty of 'em on me for stuff like this."

"Really? Where did you get that stuff? How is it made?" Jaune asked, ever the curious one.

"Later. Right now we need to be getting out of here. I don't wanna be around here whenever more shadows show up."

"It's always 'later' with you…" he complains. Yang is inclined to agree, but doesn't comment at all.

Not long after that, they make their way out of there.

…

Jaune was feeling better than he had in quite a long time.

That was probably a weird sentiment to have considering the circumstance they currently found themselves in, but it was the truth. Sure, the castle was dangerous as shit-even more so for him considering he didn't have any crazy superpowers-but going back had proved a million times more informative than he would've guessed. Jaune had come in here looking for an explanation of a surreal experience, and he not only got _that_, but also a way to take down that lecherous bastard Watts.

Jaune wasn't exactly the most socially-active guy, but he wasn't stupid. He knew his loathing of Watts was a bit of an open secret among their group of four, but they had respected his privacy and that was enough for him. That was another thing good thing to come out of this, he supposed. He hadn't know them for very long at all, but Ruby and Yang were companionable enough and he wouldn't mind getting to know them better. Morgana was… well, honestly he didn't know what to think about the cat, but who did really? He was helping them out, so he couldn't be all bad, but Jaune couldn't shake the idea he was just using them.

_Then again, am I any different?_

The idea had rooted itself not long after they embarked on this little journey. For all intents and purposes, he was basically using the two sisters to help him get at Watts. _Don't think like that Jaune. They chose to come with you; that's just your insecurity talking_.

"Alright. We're at the home stretch guys, let's get out of here," Ruby said, pressing herself against the wooden door that led into the courtyard.

"It's about effin' time," Yang said, scanning the area around them. Jaune just nodded; every unnecessary second they spent in here was a greater risk. Ruby placed her hand on the knob, and pushed the door open. They rushed out, making a mad dash through the main entrance for their infiltration point. Ruby led the bunch at the front, while Jaune took up the back. Not by choice, but because he was just that slow.

They didn't get very far.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," the distorted voice of Watts said, standing in the center of the entrance. He had a small army of shadows with him, about four grey knights and one of the golden one's. "Did you really think I would tolerate thieves running about in _my _castle?"

"Oh crap, this isn't good!" Morgana exclaimed, drawing his saber. Ruby and Yang unsheathed their weapons as well.

Watts snickered and grinned wildly. "If you wish to race to your deaths as such I won't stop you!" he cackled. The grey knights all shimmered and brooke away, revealing the form of five identical shadows. They all looked like demented horses, though their bottom half was practically non-existent. "Kill them all!" he ordered, pointing at them.

The shadows charged, and Jaune froze. Ruby, Yang and Morgana raced past him to engage while he remained rooted to his spot. Ruby lashed out, scoring a cut along on of them before rushing away when another attacked. Yang was doing her best to keep two more at bay with her shotgun blasts, while Morgana cleaved one in two with his blade.

"That's one! Keep this up and we can win this!" He cried out.

"Alright. I'll-Aaargh!" Ruby rasped, being sent to floor by one of the shadows.

"Ruby! Dammit-get of me!" Yang screamed, _slamming_ her fist into another one of the monsters. She propelled forward, crashing into one of the shadows assaulting Ruby and taking it out. Jaune let out a small breath. It was frustrating not being able to do anything, but if the three of them kept this up it would be over soon.

It was at that exact moment three more horse-like shadows appeared.

"There's more?! Dammit, these things are never endin-ngh!" Morgana was interrupted as one of the shadows barrelled over him.

"Morgana! You okay?!" Ruby cried out, using her semblance to rush over to him. She cleaved through the shadow with her scythe before kneeling down to check on the cat.

Jaune's eyes widened. "Ruby-!"

"Gaaaah!" she wailed as one of the other shadows took her down.

"There's just too many of them! Raagh!" Yang grunted, being sent onto her back by more of the little bastards.

"Guys!" Jaune cried out, starting to rush for them. He stopped in his tracks when the shadows placed their boots on Ruby and Yang's backs. He whirled on Watts, who had finally stepped down from his perch on the steps. "Why the hell are you doing this! You're supposed to be a teacher, right?! Don't you wanna _help_ people, educate them!?" Jaune roared, clenching his fists.

Watts' boot pressed down on Morgana.

"Ngh-! You piece of-!"

"You really are such a child, Arc. I gave up _my_ precious time and energy to assist _your_ school's pathetic decathlon team. Did you really expect that to be for nothing? I gave you my services in return for your obedience and loyalty, is that really so hard to understand?" he drawled.

Jaune grit his teeth. "That's bullshit! What _you_ did for the decathlon team? Don't make me laugh! You didn't want to coach us, you just wanted someone to beat on!" he accused, letting loose all his hate and bile.

"As if I could ever expect a petulant child like you to make sense of it. After all… you were the one who ruined it all for them," he declares, a mad grin growing on his face.

Jaune feels all the hate and fury drain from his body, instead left with a sense of self-loathing. "T-that's not true! I _know_ it's not true!" he shouted, more to himself than anyone.

Watts cackled. "Oh come off it Arc! You're smarter than that! Why would they all resent you so much if you did the right thing?" he asked patronizingly.

All the strength left his body and he fell to his knees. He could feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, but he had just enough control to hold them back. "Wh-what's he going on about Jaune?" Morgana grunted out. Jaune looked up to the cat and tried to answer, but he just couldn't force the words out.

Watts' amusement seemed to grow ten-fold. "You mean he hadn't told you? Ha! Who am I kidding, of course he didn't! He must've know you'd never trust a traitor like him."

"S-stop talking… that's not how it is…" he forced out weakly.

"You don't sound so sure of yourself, Arc. I bet you just ran in here and forced them to follow you. After all, you never did fight your own battles," he commented. His gaze shifted to Ruby. "How does it feel to know you risked your life for someone who was just taking advantage of you?" he asks cruelly.

Ruby grits her teeth but doesn't respond.

She doesn't have to. Jaune knows what she'll say, and the worst part was that she was right. Ruby might've said she agreed with it, but it was obvious the only reason why was him. He had lead these people down into that dungeon, made them fight for him, and done nothing in return. He had been so focused on his own baggage that he couldn't spare a thought for the people he was making risk their life.

He really was pathetic.

"Don't give in to him!" Ruby cried, her voice reverberating around the room.

Jaune looked at her.

"It doesn't matter what happened before, or what reason you had! Bad people like Watts need to be _stopped_. Nobody else was doing that! Not the police, not Beacon, no one! If you did something in the past that stopped him, or even slowed him down, that's makes you a hero Jaune! Now-ngh!" she was interrupted by the shadow pressing down on her spine.

Something came to life in Jaune's eyes.

"I'm no hero… but you're right," he said lowly, rising to a stand. "It doesn't matter if people agree with me. You needed to be put down, you _still_ do, and this time I'm not gonna let anybody stop me!" He cried, glaring at Watts with his renewed energy. His hand whips out, one of his fingers pointed defiantly at the 'king' of the castle.

"Stop looking down on me with that STUPID SMILE ON YOUR FACE!"

"_You made me wait quite a while."_

Jaune's head exploded with pain. A feminine voice speaking from the depths of his mind. "Aaah!" he cried out, clutching at his head. After a second, he dropped to his knees, the effort of standing up being too much. He collapsed to the ground, spittle leaking from his lips.

"_You seek power, correct? Then let us make a deal. Since your name has been disgraced already, why not raise the flag and wreak havoc…?"_

"Raagh!" Jaune growled in response, rolling onto his back and squirming. Pain wasn't a feeling he was too familiar with, so this sudden throbbing migraine is unlike anything he's ever experienced. After a few seconds, he just manages to roll himself to the side and get back on his knees.

"_The 'other you' who exist within desires it thus… I am thou, thou art I. There is no turning back… the sword of rebellion is your flag henceforth!"_

Jaune's eyes widened, and he felt a foreign presence on his face. When he reached up to feel it, he realized there was mask on his face. It went around his eyes but extended out, coming into sharp points at the top and bottom. Jaune put one leg under him, bring himself to a stand as his fingers wrapped themselves are the edges of the mask. "Just… do it like a band-aid," he said under his breath, ripping the mask off his face in one go.

Just like the last two times he had seen it, an explosion of azure flames erupted in the space of the main hall. The blast forced Watts and his shadows back, letting Ruby and the others escape their grasp and form in front of Jaune.

A blade licked out of the blaze, dissipating it and presenting Jaune's form. A one handed longsword with a golden hilt and blue handle was held in Jaune's right hand. In the other, he possessed a snow white kite-shield with a golden double crescent moon seal in the center. Hovering behind Jaune is his Persona. It is a sentient suit of armour which wields a longsword and shield, same as him.

"_It's about time you gain the strength of will to summon me. Let us proceed with the contract at once."_

Jaune smirked. "Who am I to keep a lady waiting? Joan of Arc! Come to me!"

The Persona descended upon the boy, masking his form with hers. "_Thou who hast let society's chains keep them subdued hast finally realized the truth and thusly earned their semblance. Under my watch, thou shalt become a symbol of strength for thine allies and protect them with thy very ensense. Crocea Mors lays in your hand now, use it well! I am thou-!"_

"Thou art I…" Jaune pronounced, his gaze hardening. There's another flash of blue light, and when that fades Jaune's new form is exposed. His mask is a bright golden in color. He wears a pure white chest plate with gold lining that covers the entirety of his torso. Similarly colored bracers rest at his wrists; black gloves are covered by armoured fingers. A dark black jerkin extends from under the armour, covering his arms. He wears both a red sash and a brown belt around his waist. Navy blue linen pants descended into laced brown boots with white steel toes.

Jaune walked forward slowly, towards the shadows. "Now that I got this power, it's time for payback." He puts his right foot forward and levels his blade at the enemies. "I'll tear you to pieces!"

The golden knight standing in the back scowls. "You _dare_ speak to king Watts in such a way?! You brat!" it cries, bringing its sword down. When it does, it's outer shell breaks away and a huge demonic horse appeared. Sitting atop the horse was a giant suit of armour, easily standing at seven feet. It holds a large trident and two glowing eyes can be seen shining from its helmet. It levels its trident much the same way Jaune did. "Take them down!" it cries.

Jaune's mind is already going into overdrive. "Morgana, you're hurt. Sit in the back and take them out with your dust. Yang, you're tough, I want you to keep the weaker shadows distracted so Ruby can cut through them with hit and run tactics."

"And you, what are you gonna do?" Yang asked.

Jaune smiled. "I'll take care of the big guy."

Ruby readied her weapon, as did the rest. "Sounds like a plan. Let's do it!"

Jaune walked forward slowly as the rest of them got to work putting his plan into motion. So far it was working great, but it couldn't take into account every possible outcome. One of the weak shadows charged at Jaune, preparing to bowl him over the same way Morgana had been.

Jaune wasn't going to sit there and take it, not anymore.

Just as the shadow was about to collide, Jaune dropped low and brought forth his shield. It's body crashed into it and Jaune grunted at the force. He pushed over and upward with his shield, exposing the shadows underbelly. His blade thrust upward, piercing out the back end of the shadow and killing it instantly. Looking around, he saw that his teammates had taken care of most of the other distractions, leaving him and the boss totally alone.

He didn't waste any more time, rushing forward. The red knight twirled his trident and drew it back. Jaune saw the telegraphed attack, and just as he expected the shadow speared its weapon forward when he was within range. _They aren't as smart as people, they can't strategize like us,_ Jaune realized, deflecting the blow with his shield. He spun around, turning with the momentum. As he did, he placed his sword into the slit of his shield that served as the sheath. When he did, the kite shield suddenly shifted and warped. Sword and shield become one, and when Jaune made to strike he was holding a thick two-handed greatsword.

He brought his sword downward, cutting through the trident like butter and rendering it useless. "Nice move, Arc!" Morgana cheered, slicing forward. A gust of wind kicked up and the horse the shadow was resting on suddenly found itself legless.

"Argh! You'll pay for that you brat!" The shadow called, bringing itself to a stand. It swung with it's recently renovated staff, but Jaune deflected the attack easily enough with his sword. He stepped forward and lashed out, severing the things arm from its body. Jaune grunted and twirled, putting all his strength behind a spin attack. Crocea Mors cut forward, severing the shadows legs at the knees.

"You're finished!" he declared, bringing his sword down. He didn't connect with the shadow, however, instead leveling his blade at its head. It looked up at him, confused, and Jaune smiled. He pulled the trigger located on the handle of his blade, and the tip of the sword receded back into itself. Sticking out of the now exposed tip was a fat, bulky barrel.

An explosion came to life in the main hall, completely covering the shadow in flames. When they dissipated, the space was totally empty. "What the hell was that?!" Yang exclaimed, trotting up with everyone else.

Jaune turned to them and rested Crocea Mors on his shoulder. "Apparently my mind though it was a good idea to put a grenade launcher in a sword," he remarked with a smile. It fads and he turns his attention to 'king' Watts, who is scrambling about the main hall.

He stops and growls, whirling on the group of four. "You impertinent knaves! I'll have your head for this. Guards!" he wails while gesturing wildly. It make him look like a child throwing a tantrum, and only increases Jaune's distaste of the man. All of the sudden, four more of the dull, grey armoured soldiers appear in the room.

Jaune bears his blade at them. "Bring it on! I'll cut them all down, saving _you_ for last," he declares, his expression hardening. He makes a step toward them, and almost falls flat on his face. A wave of exhaustion crashes down on him, making him feel woozy. _Oh man, is this how Ruby and Yang felt? _He wonders. Ruby catches him before he falls, letting him lean on her for support.

"Sorry, Arc, but we gotta go! We're already winded as is, a prolonged battle would be the end of us!" Morgana exclaimed, hopping about.

Jaune returns his sheath to it's normal form and rests it at his hip. "...Alright, I get it. My judgement was clouded for a second there, but you're right, we have everything we need to take him down in the real world." The shadows forms shimmered and broke apart, revealing five or so enemies.

"Guys, we gotta go!" Yang called, dashing behind them. Jaune wasn't about to argue with her; he hurried after her with Ruby's help, and cursed himself for needing to do so. If this was how tired Yang felt after her awakening he wasn't sure how she was still _conscious_, let alone fighting. There was no time for infiltration points; they burst through the door and raced outside the castle.

It took them a few minutes to finally get somewhere safe, and when they did Jaune felt like he had run a marathon. He doubled over and wheezed, trying to catch his breath. "Here," Morgana offered, handing him one of his veils of aura. Jaune rasped out a thanks and took it, downing the liquid. Almost immediately he felt more refreshed, and brought himself to a standing position.

Yang stretches and sighs. "Man, that was close. We need to get out of here like, now."

Jaune nods. "Agreed. The longer we stay here the more risk we put ourselves in, especially now."

"Hold on a second! We're not done here yet!" Morgana exclaimed, surprising the three of them.

Ruby cocks her head, confused. "Uh, what are you going on about Morgana. We already have everything we need."

"Are you _joking_?" he asked incredulously. "We had a deal, remember? I show you around the Palace and help you get what you need, and _you_ guys help with my infiltration of this place!" he exclaimed.

Jaune regarded the cat. "I don't mean to be rude, Morgana. But I can't recall us ever talking about this."

"No, you're right. He didn't say anything about this earlier," Yang cuts in, crossing her arms.

Morgana's expression drops. "A-are you kidding me? Ruby, we talked about this, right?"

Ruby looks of to the side awkwardly. "This was never set in stone…"

"Even _you_!"

She waves her hands wildly. "N-now hold on a second! I don't have any issue with helping you, but you never talked about any of this before!" she expresses. Her posture relaxes and she sighs. "Look, I _will_ help you out, okay? I promise. Just… later, alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry cat! We're not assholes, and you've been a pretty big help. You're pretty brave, ya know? For being a cat and all," Yang comments, crouching down and rubbing the top of his head.

"Looks like we're the ones keeping _you _waiting for once," Jaune jokes, joining in on the fun. He turns back toward the entrance to the castle. "Come on, you two, let's get out of here," he offers, gesturing over his shoulder.

"Oh, _hell_ no! You guys are seriously just gonna abandon me like that?! This is inexcusable!" he rants as they dash off, heading for the exit. Jaune isn't sure if he's still going on when they leave, but he can't bring himself to care either way. After all…

Now, they could _take him down._

…

"I can't believe that happened to you. It just seems so… wrong," Jaune says when Ruby finishes her tale.

Things had moved kind of quickly after they exited Watts' Palace. It was evening when they left, and after realizing that they were all pretty hungry Jaune showed them to a nice ramen place he frequented. Once they got their food, Jaune had asked about her probation, and the circumstances surrounding it. Not seeing the harm, Ruby told him the story.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't as wrong as being expelled from our old school, or having to leave home for a year," Yang said bitterly, stabbing at her food with the chopsticks. Ruby winces at her tone, but completely understands her frustration. She had felt it plenty too, after all. Her sister turns her attention to the other blond. "Well… now that we've shared our story, how about you come clean? It's pretty obvious you and this Watts guy have some history."

Jaune looks down and sighs. "Alright. You've earned the right to hear that, especially after today," he relents. He looks them both in the eye, and regret is clear in his expression. "I'm not sure if you've really noticed, but Watts is pretty highly regarded around the school. That's mostly because of his contributions to the academic decathlon team," he explains.

Ruby nods, following along. "I remember the version of himself in that other world mentioning something like that. What exactly did he do?"

"Well, he almost immediately took over as the head coach whenever he started at Beacon. Apparently he's actually a fairly well known name in the scientific community. Principal Ozpin saw that as grounds enough to have him coach us."

"I'm guessing things didn't go exactly as planned?" Yang asked.

Jaune nods. "The way he did things… it just wasn't right. If you were struggling one day, he'd cuss you out and threaten to kick you off the team. He'd also give us these insane tasks to complete-one's that were quite literally impossible to get done on time-and then when we couldn't get those done, he'd add even more on top of them!" he exclaimed, anger starting to seep into his tone. He pauses and takes a breath, and when he looks at them again he looks a lot more down.

"...I was the captain of the team," he states, surprising the both of them. "I knew what was going on, but I figured Watts was just one of those hard-ass instructors and told everyone to power through it." He scoffs, and clenches his fists. "God, I was so _stupid_ back then."

He doesn't say anything else for a few seconds, and Ruby ventures to speak. "So… he had unrealistic expectations for you guys and pushed you too hard. That's horrible, I agree, but it's not exactly-"

"I was getting to that," Jaune cuts her off. He takes a drink of his tea and exhales. "Sorry. It just gets me really heated, remembering how everything went down."

Yang shakes her head. "You don't gotta explain it to us man. Trust me, I get it."

Jaune seems surprised for a moment, but seeing the sincerity behind her words, nods and continues. "Things went on like that for a while. It sucked, but Watts _was _getting results. We were doing much better than we had the previous year, and we were actually on our way to nationals." He bites his lower lip-remember something unpleasant, Ruby imagines-but after a while he relaxes.

"That's when Oscar came to me.

He was one of our better members; a damn smart guy in his own right. He asked me if I could talk with him in private, and I agreed. That's when he showed me all his bruises…" Jaune led off. Ruby's eyes widened and Yang stiffened beside her. "I could see it… the places where he had been beaten. He had bruises all along his his arms and chest. When I asked him who had done this… surprise, surprise, it was Watts."

"...What did you do?" Ruby asks, her voice low.

Jaune looked back to them, and his eyes were filled with fire. "I stormed down to the principal's office. It had taken some convincing, but I got Oscar to reveal his injuries to Ozpin and explain the situation to him," he told them.

"Wait, so if you immediately took this to Ozpin, how the hell is he still employed?" Yang asks.

Jaune laughed bitterly. "I kept asking myself that same question… but now I finally get it. Watts was too important to the school's success, or the student's success in the minds of the parents. I can't imagine I was the only person Oscar decided to tell, and after a lot of thought the only thing that makes sense to me is that his parents didn't care so long as he got a good education…" he finished lowly. Ruby was speechless. Yang was clutching at the sides of the table, trying to keep herself from breaking something. "Ozpin claimed that there wasn't enough to go off of and so Watts got off scott free. Well… mostly. To keep the peace, Ozpin decided to disband the decathlon team temporarily. He said it was so he could 'further investigate' the claims Oscar and I had made, but I sure as hell haven't seen that happening. So, in the eyes of everyone at the school, I was the asshole who kept the team from going to nationals over nothing."

"That's _sick_," Yang growled out, still trying to keep a lid on her temper.

"Wait a minute! What about the team? I mean, they all knew what he was really doing, right?" Ruby exclaims, trying to find some sort of bright side.

Jaune sighs heavily. "Don't be so sure. The rest of the teams resents me for what I did. They told me they were all suffering through Watts' torture, and that I had no right to take away their shot at nationals because I disagreed with it."

"But that's not fair!"

Jaune chuckled, and this one was actually somewhat light. "I actually agree with you. Before today… I kept wondering if maybe they were right. 'If they all knew about the abuse and accepted it, then maybe I _should've_ just stayed out of it.' That's how I thought. But after today… I don't believe that anymore."

"Huh? Why?" Ruby asks.

Jaune smiles earnestly. "_You_. What you said to me at the Palace… you were right. Watts needs to be stopped, especially if he's still taking advantage of students like that. So it doesn't matter to me if people think it's not a problem. It _is_, and I'm not gonna let them stop me from doing what's right… not anymore."

"They'll see you were right. When Watts finally goes to jail and everything's back to normal; they'll see you were right," Ruby assures.

Jaune waves her off. "Nah, it's nothing to worry about. Even if I could go back to the decathlon team… I don't think I would," he tells her, crossing his arms. His eyes suddenly light up. "Oh right! We should exchange contact info. I mean we're gonna work on taking down Watts tomorrow, right?" he asked.

Ruby smiled and nodded. "Totally! We can't just let someone like that get away with this!" she declares. Her gaze turns to her sister. "What about you, Yang? You in?"

Her sister looked between the two of them, and returned her smiled. "You better believe it! Even if you two weren't already doing something, I can't just let this slide, ya know?"

The three teens looked between each other excited. "Alright. We know what we need to do; nothing's gonna stop us now!"

…

"I see you decided to go to school today. That's nice," Cinder greeted as she walked in the door.

"Haha, well… yeah," Ruby finishes lamely, not really sure how to respond.

"Hm. Well, it is getting rather late. I would recommend you go to sleep before to much longer."

Ruby laughed airily. "You don't have to worry about that. I'm dog tired," she claimed, stepping past the living room and heading upstairs.

"I expect you to handle dinner tonight; I wasn't able to," Cinder calls up the stairs.

"No problem!" she responds with a thumbs up. When she realizes Cinder can't see it, she just continues on awkwardly. She tosses her school bag onto one of the couches and steps behind the kitchen counter, opening the fridge. She grabs some things for dinner and sets them on the counter. Randomly, her phone sounds off in her pocket. She pulls it out and looks at it.

_**?: **__Hey, it's me. Can u see this?_

Ruby tilts her head in confusion at the text. Then she remembers and face-palms in embarrassment.

_**Ruby: **__Jaune?_

_**Jaune: **__Yep. Got it in one. _

_**Ruby: **__So what's up? Is there something you needed to talk about?_

_**Jaune:**_ _Not really. I just wanted to make sure the number worked. There is something that's bothering me, though._

_**Ruby: **__What is it?_

_**Jaune: **__I have it. That mysterious app that we used to get into Watts Palace. It's on my phone now._

_**Ruby: **__For real? I thought I was the only one who had it._

_**Jaune: **__Not anymore, I guess. Does Yang have it?_

"Yep. I checked earlier," Yang said from the other side of the counter.

"Yaah! Don't scare me like that, Yang!"

"Sorry."

_**Yang: **__Yep. showed up on my phone earlier._

_**Jaune: **__Interesting. I wonder why we have it now? Do you think it's because we all went to the Palace together?_

_**Ruby: **__Maybe. You're clearly the smartest out of all of us, and I've got no other explanation._

_**Jaune: **__You said it just showed up on your phone randomly, right?_

_**Ruby: **__Mm-hm._

_**Jaune: **__Weird. I wonder who made it._

_**Ruby: **__Me too…_

_**Jaune: **__Welp, I'll leave you alone now. We gotta be rested for tomorrow, after all."_

_**Jaune has left the chat…**_

Dinner is ate in silence, and Ruby goes to bed not long after.

…

Ruby's eyes snap open, and she finds herself in the still foreign surroundings of the Velvet Room.

She sighs and drags herself to a sitting position, her legs dangling off the side of the bed. It's only now that she realizes she is in a pair of pin-striped prison clothes. The thought unsettles her, but she ignores it and drags herself to the bars. Just as she expected, Igor sits behind his desk grinning at her, and the twins stand on either side of her cell.

"...So I'm back here, I guess."

Igor regards her curiously. "Indeed. Though it has only been two days since we last spoke, I have been looking forward to your next visit. Have you come any closer to understanding this place?" he asked.

Ruby looked around her and sighed. "Not really, but I'm guessing it has something to do with all the other weirdness in my life."

Igor's cheshire cat grin gleamed. "Ah, that reminds me. How has the Metaverse navigator been treating you?" he asks.

Ruby instantly feels on edge. "Do you mean the app that took me to Watts' Palace? How do you know about it?"

"I am the one who gifted you with it. It should prove invaluable to your development as a thief," he explained.

"Wait a minute, what?! Did you give it to Yang and Jaune to then?!"

He nodded. "I saw fit to grant it to those who may prove to be powerful allies to you," he told her.

Caroline slammed her baton against the cell. "You'd better work hard to deepen the bonds with your contractors, inmate!"

Ruby jumped. "Wh-wha-! I don't-"

"Ah, I suppose now is as good a time as any to discuss this," Igor intoned, interrupting Ruby's sputtering. "I'm sure you have noticed by now, but you are slowly starting to gain the support of others. Those who were cast aside by society much like yourself. By deepening your connection-your bond-with those you have formed contracts with, you may yet benefit."

"Contracts? Are you talking about my friends?" she asked, totally lost.

He nodded. "Indeed. Now don't misunderstand me, I am not encouraging the formation of superficial relationships. Those who you form connections with ought to benefit you in a concrete and defined way," he explained.

The idea of forming purely self-serving relationships doesn't sit well with Ruby, but then she takes a moment to think on it. She thinks about everyone she's really interacted with so far, and realizes they all fall into the 'contractor' relation Igor just describe. Cinder provided for her and Yang, but made it pretty clear it wasn't just out of the kindness of her heart. Jaune seemed like a good enough guy, but they were only really friends because they were both going against Watts. But… that didn't necessarily lessen her connection with them.

"_You. What you said to me at that Palace… you were right."_

Jaune's honest words of thanks ring in her minds, and Ruby looks back to Igor. "I… I think I kind of get what you're saying."

"Make sure to deepen your bonds with these people. They may yet prove to be valuable assets in your rehabilitation," Justine intoned, checking her clipboard offhandedly.

Ruby didn't say anything for a second. "Okay… I'll do that," she manages.

Igor chuckles, and she shivers at the horrid sound. "This has been an eventful meeting indeed. I am _very_ interested to see how your rehabilitation will continue."

Ruby grins, and her eyelids start to feel very heavy. "I hope… I don't… disappoint…"

She's back asleep before she can say anything else.

…

"Ms. Rose."

The calling of her name causes Ruby's head to snap to the front of the class.

Ms. Goodwitch is standing there, one hand on her hip. She looks at Ruby with an unimpressed expression. It makes her feel anxious, especially with the eyes of every other student on her. Goodwitch gestures to the blackboard. "Would you mind providing the answer for this question?" Ruby freezes and looks at the board, reading through the question. When she does, she sighs in relief and provides the answer. Thankfully, she recognized that question.

"She got it right? Really?"

"I doubt it. She probably threatened the teachers, had them give her all the answers to appear smart."

"Oh crap, do you really think that's true?"

"It must be. I mean, she's a criminal after all."

Each comment only makes Ruby feel more tense. Even though she'd already been there a few days, the rumours about her were still running rampant. She'd tried her best to ignore it-to just brush it off like it never happened-but it was hard. Unbidden, her eyes slid to the clock on the wall. School was just a few minutes from ending, and then her, Jaune and Yang could get started. She sighed, trying to focus on Ms. Goodwitch's lecture again. It was hard to focus, though, with all her thoughts swirling around in her head. Every time her peers made a comment about her, Ruby found herself tensing. It was painful, to have people around her age think she was some kind of dangerous deviant.

The bell rang loudly, signifying the end of school.

"Oh thank god," Ruby mumbles, drawing herself to a stand. She grabbed her school bag and made for the door, hoping to escape the judgemental gaze of her peers. When she stepped out there, she notices she didn't seem to be the only one in a hurry. The red-haired girl she had met on her first day power-walked down the halls, as if she had someplace to be. I was weird; even though they hadn't really interacted, Ruby could still remember their meeting on her first day here. She walked past one of the classrooms, and someone stepped out behind her.

It was Watts. Dressed in a suit instead of a robe and crown.

"Ah, Nikos. How fortunate I ran into you here," he greeted.

The girl-Nikos, apparently-stopped in place, but didn't make any move to face him. "Really now? Is there something you need?" she asked, and the defeated lilt in her voice stuck with Ruby.

"Not necessarily. I was just curious what you might be doing after school today," he explained.

Nikos' hand clenched around the strap to her bag. "I'm sorry, professor Watts, but I actually have a tournament today. A local," she informs him. Ruby isn't sure what she means by that.

"Your kendo career, you mean? That's upsetting. I'm sure it must be very trying for you to have to devote so much of your free time. Being a teenager and all."

"I manage just fine," Nikos says shortly. Ruby finds herself becoming more and more uncomfortable as she continues to watch the exchange.

"Of course, but I'm sure it makes you rather lonely. That's why I originally asked you out, after all. I know it must make you feel better to be around other people," he comments, and Ruby's jaw nearly hits the floor. _D-did I hear that right just now? A teacher dating a student… and it's Watts no less. With everything that I know… this can't be good._

"Like I already said: I'm sorry Mr. Watts, but I really must be going…" she seems to force out, and then she walks away.

"Tsk."

Watts turns to walk away, and both him and Ruby are startled by the collision. "A-ah! I'm sorry," she blurts out automatically. Watts straightens and looks down at her. His expression looks rather displeased at first, but settles into a polite smile after a second.

"It's no problem, really. I should've been more attentive as well," he looks her over for a second, and it makes her feel on edge. "I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've actually met. Are you new here?" he asks.

Ruby tries to appear relaxed. "I transferred a little bit ago, so I guess I'm still pretty new here…" she managed, keeping her voice neutral.

Watts' eyes widened. "Oh my! Then I supposed I _do_ know you, in a certain sense. Your name has been passed around at board meetings."

"Nothing bad I hope," she replies, trying at a smile.

Watts' expression drops a little, but it feels fake. "Well… I can't say much in regards to that, but I will say I try not to let rumours and gossip shape my perception.

"Awfully nice of you."

"I try my best, and I couldn't bring myself to be rude to a pretty girl like yourself," he commented. Alarm bells go off in Ruby's head and she holds her school bag more to her chest.

"Thank you. It was nice meeting you Mr…" she lead off, having enough sense to pretend she didn't know his name.

"It's Watts. Professor Watts. And you might be…?"

"Ruby Rose," she tells him, and feels a lot less safe doing so.

"I apologize if your transition to our school has been difficult, Ms. Rose," he says, offering a hand. Ruby stands at it for a second, hesitant. _Just get it over with… you shouldn't have to deal with him much longer, _she reminds herself. After gathering her resolved she reaches out and takes his hand.

They shake once, and Watts walks away.

Ruby looks back at him for a moment, shakes her head, and goes off to find her friends.

…

"I'm glad I could see you today…"

"You know I can always make time for you Shiho," Pyrrha says, looking at her best friend. Shiho Suzui is a slim girl with black hair and onyx eyes. She wears the standard Beacon uniform sans blazer, and her shoes are white instead of black. Pyrrha looks at her friend worriedly, her eyes scanning over the different bruises on her body. Her forearm is wrapped in gauze, and she sports a swollen black eye.

"I know, and I appreciate it. I just don't wanna make you miss student council business or anything," she tells her. Pyrrha looks away and sighs. Shiho had always been a kind person-probably the kindest person she'd ever met-but now her concerned sounded so… defeated. It wasn't like she could blame her, she had a pretty good idea what was happening to her best friend. _That vile Watts… I have to speak with him about this_.

"You don't have to worry about that Shiho… everything is taken of," she rattles off. She looks up again and faces Shiho. It really hurts her; they used to spend time with each other and have fun. Now it just seemed so… lifeless. "So, um… you received that injury during volleyball practice, right?" she ventures to ask.

Shiho stiffens. "Y-yeah. Things got a little wild, is all…" she says unsureadly. Pyrrha makes a displeased noise and clutches her hands.

"Shiho…"

Her phone goes off.

"Who's that?" Shiho asks.

Pyrrha ignores the ringing and forces a smile. "It's probably just my manager. It's not too pressing at the moment," she tells her. Shiho nods and looks to the ground again. Before Pyrrha can speak any further, another student approaches them. He has dark skin and well-groomed black hair. His eyes are an emerald green and similar to Shiho he doesn't wear the black blazer with his uniform.

"E-excuse me. Shiho?"

"What's up Oscar?" she asks.

The now-named Oscar fidgeted, as if trying to find the courage to speak. "Mr. Watts… requested for you to meet him in his office…" he manages, his tone defeated. That catches Pyrrha's attentions, and when she looks over the boy she realizes he has bruises similar to that of Shiho.

"D-did he say what he wanted?" Shiho asked. Pyrrha's heart clenches at her tone, and she grits her teeth.

"No. Just that he needed to see you," Oscar shrugged and looked off to the side.

"Oh, okay…" she manage and drew herself to a stand.

Pyrrha stood up. "Tell Mr. Watts that's she's not feeling well," she blurts out, startling the booth of them. She hesitates for a second, then chooses to continue. "Shiho's feeling poorly today, so I'll take her home and he can see her tomorrow. Tell him that," Pyrrha instructs.

"O-oh, okay. If you're sure…" Oscar strangles out.

"No. It's fine," Shiho interjects, grabbing her attention.

"But Shiho-!"

"Really, Pyrrha, don't worry about me. I'll be fine," she declares with a smile. That smile almost breaks her heart. She can see it's fakeness, and that hurts her more than anything. Shiho trots off before Pyrrha can say anything more; Oscar lingers around for a couple more seconds, then walks away awkwardly. Pyrrha's phone is still ringing in her pocket. Groaning, she draws it and looks at the screen. Upon seeing who's calling her, she immediately hits the ignore button and walks away, trying to keep her face neutral.

When she leaves the small sitting area in the courtyard, two boys pass by her.

"Hey. That was Pyrrha Nikos, right? The student council president?"

"The one who's dating Watts? Oh yeah."

"I've heard that her and that transfer student have been hanging around. The one with the record?"

"Oh damn, dude. Think they're dating?"

He shrugs. "Probably. Say, if she's that easy, do you think _I_ have a chance getting with her?"

"No way man! You don't wanna go after Professor Watts' bitch!"

The two boys laugh heartily, completely ignorant of the world.

**A.N: So… getting darker. Honestly, the Kamoshida arc in the game was what really hooked me on the story. I mean all the drama and subtle thematic framing… it was just so captivating. I hope I can capture a fraction of that same sense of tension with this story, especially with the later arcs. And, full disclosure, I kinda fuckin' phoned in for the design of Jaune's Persona. I mean it's only gonna be there for like three paragraphs anyway so who gives a shit? Wondering if I should have Pyrrha's Persona be Carman or Achilles. I mean I know Carman doesn't really fit her personality but it might just with the way I plan on taking her character. Oh well, that's still a ways off, I'll figure it out then. **


	5. True Colors

**The Phantom Reaper Chapter 5: True Colors**

When Ruby walked into the sitting area of the courtyard, everyone was already waiting.

"Yo Rubes! What took you so long?" Yang asked with her usual energetic tone.

"I got stopped on my way here… by professor Watts," she admitted.

Jaune tensed up. "For real? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. We just talked a little bit," she explained, crossing her arms. "After talking with him, though… I think he was the one who leaked our record, like Jaune said."

"What makes you think that?" Yang asks.

"It was the look in his eye. It was the first time we had met, but he looked like he already knew me… and didn't like me."

Jaune sighed. "I can believe that. I think that he sees you as some sort of threat. Like having you here will somehow 'lessen his power'. From my time on the decathlon team, I remember Watts always hated things he couldn't control, and right now I guess that's you two."

Yang shakes her head. "But that's so… stupid," she said, unable to find a better word.

Ruby smiled. "Well that's why we're here, isn't it? Jaune, what have you got for us?"

Jaune seemed to light up. "Well, I know the names of all our victims, if that's what you're asking."

Yang fist pumped. "Awesome! Who are they?! Let's go find them and get 'em to take down Watts," she posited.

Jaune shook his head. "Hold on a second there, Yang, it isn't quite that easy. Even though I know their names, actually finding the opportunity to talk with them is gonna be difficult. We don't know their schedules, and even if we did… I get the feeling they wouldn't wanna talk to us."

"What makes you say that?" Yang asks.

Ruby turns to her. "Our record, Yang. People at the school don't trust us, and they don't exactly trust Jaune either because of what happened with him and Watts before…"

Yang's expression drops. "Oh yeah. Damn, I hadn't even thought of that," she grumbled. "Well, what are we supposed to do now?"

Jaune smiled and raised a finger. "That's the thing; I guess we're pretty lucky, because in a couple days the school is gonna have a rally for the track team."

"Track?" Ruby questioned, her interests peaked.

He nodded. "Yeah. We have the rest of the day off after the rally, which makes it the perfect opportunity for us to find these guys."

Yang's previous enthusiasm returned. "Alright! We've got a plan; all we have to do now is wait."

Ruby returned her sisters excitement. "Yeah. I'm feeling confident about this whole thing," she said. Her mind drifts back to the mention of track. _I wonder if I could try out…_

"I finally found you guys. God, that took forever," a familiar voice suddenly announced. Ruby whips around, trying to find who may be calling her. When she doesn't see anyone behind her, she starts frantically looking around with Yang and Jaune, trying to find whoever said that. All of the sudden a black cat hops up onto the table. It's fur is a pitch black but it has white tuffs along it's paws, tail and snout. A bright yellow collar also hangs from the cats neck. "You would not believe how long I was searching around for you amatuers," the _cat_ said.

"Um… I'm not the only one who heard that, right?" Yang asked, completely baffled.

"I-I don't think so. Ruby, you heard the cat talk too, right?"

"Meow?" Ruby offered, just as lost as the two of them.

"This isn't the time to be joking around!"

The cat scoffed. "Don't tell me you've already forgotten about me! We fought together just yesterday!" it cried.

Ruby's eyes widened. "Don't tell me… Morgana, is that you!?"

Morgana beamed at her. "In the flesh. Glad to see at least _some_ of you recognized me."

"Never mind _that_. How did you even get here?!" Jaune exclaimed. He paused and went still. "Wait a minute. Does this mean _you_ have access to the Metaverse app? You don't even have a phone!"

Morgana looked at him curiously. "App? What are you talking about. I just left on my own."

Yang glared at him skeptically. "How?"

"Because I'm better than you," he stated bluntly. "I have a lot more experience exploring Palaces and using the Metaverse, so coming here from there is practically second nature for me."

Yang groaned and dropped her arms. "God, that condescending attitude, there's no doubt about it now, that's _definitely_ Morgana."

"You were _still_ doubting me?! How dense are you?!" he accused.

Jaune stepped up before a full blown argument could start. "Alright, enough of that. _Why_ are you here Morgana?" The cat sat down and regarded the three of them. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted before he could.

"What was that? Did I just hear a meow?"

"Dammit, is there a cat on campus? I can't believe this."

"Hey you! Did you hear a cat meowing around here?"

Ruby and co freeze up. "Crap! I guess everyone else just hears him as a normal cat," Jaune theorizes.

"We don't got time to be worrying about that! We'll be in serious trouble if they find him here," Yang rants. Her hand whips out, grabbing Morgana by his scruff. "We gotta find somewhere safe. Until then; Ruby! Keep 'em in your bag."

Ruby starts. "What?! Why me!" she shouts. Yang doesn't seem to care for her protests and shoves the cat in her bag.

"Okay, let's get out of here. The roof should be vacant now, right?" Yang asks, turning to Jaune. He nods and the three of them take off for the roof. Ruby can hear Morgana complaining from in her bag, but tries not to think about it as they bolt up the stairs. They arrive at the roof before too long. Ruby sets her bag down on the concrete and Morgana trots out, shaking his head.

"Geez. A little warning next time would be nice!" he complained, stretching his small body.

Ruby crouches down and scratches the back of the cats ear. "Sorry Morgana; you're not hurt at all, are you?" she asks, concerned.

He casually shakes off her hand. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

Jaune clears his throat. "It's nice to see you again and all, but can we get back to why you're here. I get the impression it's not just because you missed us."

Morgana sits down, and his expression is a lot more serious. "How's you guys progress in regards to this Watts guy?" he asks.

Jaune crosses his arms and regards him suspiciously. "We've got a plan, so I'd say they're going smoothly."

"That's good to hear. It seems you guys aren't as clueless as I thought," he complimented. "I actually came because I wanted to help you guys out."

"How?" Yang asks incredulously. "I mean, you're a cat. What could you do to help us?"

"It's not like that's _my_ fault! I just… ended up this way when I left Watts castle," he explained.

A metaphorical light bulb went off in Ruby's head. "Is this related to the Metaverse? And that 'deal' you were talking about earlier?"

"Observant as ever, Ruby. Yeah, I know how we can use his Palace to make Watts pay."

Jaune tilted his head to the side, curious. "I was actually wondering about that myself. We already know from that freaky torture room that Watts crimes in reality reflect those of the Metaverse, so I imagine if a big change was made in his Palace then it would effect the real Watts pretty heavily."

Morgana nodded. "Bingo. To put it simply, we can use his Palace to make Watts confess his crimes in reality."

The teens collectively do a double take.

"Wait, for real?! How?!" Yang exclaimed.

"If you could keep quiet for two seconds I would tell you," the cat berated.

"Oh, right. Sorry."

Morgana shook his head before continuing. "As I've already explained, Watts 'castle' is the manifestation of his distorted desires. The thing is, those desire's can't be spawned from nothing, there has to be something amiss at the very core of Watts being in order for him to develop a Palace. Luckily for us, this 'core' is physically represented in a Palace as the users distorted heart. If we took the 'core' of Watts' distorted desires from his Palace, then there's no doubt it would affect the Watts in reality pretty heavily."

Ruby and Jaune nodded along, following this easily. Yang was… getting by.

"That's all well and good, but I'm not sure I get how taking his messed up heart would make Watts confess to the abuse," Ruby pointed out.

Morgana smirked. "If Watts' distorted desires are stolen from him, then for all intents and purposes he'll become a 'good man' again. Once his conscience returns, he won't be able to live with himself! He'll _beg_ to be taken away by the police so he can atone for his crimes, _and_ he won't bother anyone ever again!" he cheered.

"Woah! That sounds… pretty awesome, actually," Yang says, a large grin forming.

Jaune returns it with a tiny smirk. "Yeah… I won't deny the idea of him begging for forgiveness after hurting so many is pretty cathartic."

"If it means he won't hurt anybody ever again; I'm all for it," Ruby declares.

"Hold on a second there, guys," Morgana interrupts, capture their attention. "Since I've already explained this much, I might as well tell you the risks involved."

"Do you mean having to fight shadows? I mean, that isn't exactly gonna be _easy_ but with the four of us I'm sure we'll manage," Yang comments, crossing her arms.

Morgana shakes his head. "That's one thing, yes, but not what I was talking about…" he leads off.

Ruby eyes him, her gaze softening. "Morgana, could something bad happen if we decide to do this."

The cat looks her in the eyes, and his expression is a lot more grave. "Humans need desire's to live. The need to eat, sleep, fall in love… all of these things are human desires. So taking someone's desires away like that… it could have some bad consequences. There's even the chance he may suffer a mental shutdown," he explained.

Ruby's expression falls. _A mental shutdown?! Like what happened with that subway driver…_ "Morgana. Are you saying that Watts could… die, if we do this," she asks fearfully.

He frowns at the teens dire expressions. "I'm only saying it's a _possibility_; it's not a set in stone thing!" he cried out indignantly. "What's with all the frightened faces! It's just a risk we'd be running _if_ we decided to do this. That's why I felt it important to tell you!" he huffed.

Ruby, Yang and Jaune exchange glances. "Watts is a bastard… there's no doubt about that. But killing him? Or even risking it… it doesn't feel right. I don't like it," Jaune claimed, his face hardening.

"Yeah… I'm not exactly opposed to fighting, but murder…?"

"I'm not a murderer. I don't wanna even _risk_ that happening, let alone actually do it," Ruby declares.

Morgana rolls his eyes. "You're all being kind of overdramatic…" he mumbles. "Whatever. You guys have your plan so I'm gonna push. Just know that the offer is open. I'll be back in a couple days to see what you decide. Until then, see you later!" He called, trotting off the roof and down the stairs.

Ruby looks at mind contemplatively, not quite sure what to feel. Someone rests a hand on her shoulder, and she turns to see it's Jaune. "Don't worry. He'll be fine; and by the time he comes back Watts will be on his way to jail," he reassures with a smile.

She returns it. "Yeah! Let's take this guy down!"

…

The two days to the track rally passed uneventfully for Ruby.

Her, Jaune and Yang figured it was best they act like a typical, honest student during that time to alieve suspicion. Because of that, Ruby's life had actually been somewhat normal for the first time. She went to school, studied, tried her best to pass the time, the usual things. Her and Cinder had even exchanged some words, which led Ruby to believe they were past the whole 'skipped the first day of school' thing. Then again, consider how hard it was for her to read her guardian, she wouldn't be surprised if Cinder hadn't even cared past her initial rant.

_Right now, though, none of that matters…_

Ruby settled into a three point stance and felt a smile creep up on her face. This track rally had turned out to be sort of an open invite thing, and Ruby wasn't about to pass this opportunity up. The track extended before her, presenting itself like a catwalk for her hundred meter dash. There were four other runners with her, and all of them looked at Ruby skeptically.

"Is that the girl? The one with the record?"

"What's she doing running track?"

"Do you think she's trying to get in good with the coach? I wouldn't be surprised."

For once, Ruby was able to completely block out the hushed whispers of the other students. All that mattered to her in that moment was the starting gun, the track, and absolutely destroying her competitors. Ruby looked to her left to see Yang and Jaune enthusiastically cheering her on. She shook her head and focused back on the track, her smile widening in perceptively. Weirdly enough, Ruby felt another pair of eyes on her as well. Frowning, she turned to the right to see who it may be.

It was Watts.

He stood off to the side of the track, watching her intently. A pleasant smile was plastered across his face, and when he noticed her looking back he nodded. Ruby isn't sure what that's supposed to mean, but she ignores it at the starters call of "Get ready!"

Ruby hardened her stance and tensed her muscles.

"Get set!"

She narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Go!"

She was off!

Ruby found herself near the back of the initial huddle, with only one other person lagging behind her. She could feel all the judgement of those around her, all of them seeming to ask the same question: _Why are you here?_

Ruby grinned and slammed her foot onto the pavement. _I'll show you._

She bolted past the competition, emerging from the huddle at the front of the pack. The other girls seemed taken aback by her sudden ferocity before kicking it into high gear. Even as they did, Ruby outpaced them. She widened the distance between her and the others more and more, even as the rest gave their all to try and match her. It's almost funny; the other runners increased effort only makes Ruby want to kick it up another notch. She crossed the finish line before she can however, with a little over a fourth of the track standing between her and the competitors.

A whole _two seconds_ pass before the others finish, and even though she's not a braggart she can't help but feel a little satisfied at that.

"Holy crap! Did you see that!"

"I can't believe it! There has to be some sort of trick!"

"I bet she put some kind of… muscle relaxer in the others water so she could win."

"Man. How low…"

Ruby sighs and shakes her head, powering through the criticism and approaching her friends. When she's about halfway, she's abruptly stopped by someone. Her eyes widen when she realizes who it is. Watts. Again.

"That was an exemplary performance out there. I didn't realize you ran," He commented with his usual fake smile.

Ruby's guard goes up but she does her best to remain composed. "Yeah. Tracks always been a passion of mine."

He chuckled. "I'll say. You completely outclassed the other competitors. I may not be much of an athlete myself, but even I must say I was rather impressed."

Ruby crosses her arms. "Well, enough training and practice can have you go a long way," she replies listlessly, not sure what he was getting at. Thankfully for her, Yang and Jaune intercepted at that moment.

"Yo Rubes! That was an _awesome_ run," Yang says, wrapping her arm over her neck. She starts walking away and Ruby is quick to follow along, eager to be away from the older man.

"Sorry, professor Watts. We're gonna borrow her for a while," Jaune said, waving to the teacher as he joined the two of them.

"Of course. No problem," he tells them politely, but Ruby can hear the annoyance seeping through his tone. The three teens walk for a little bit and Yang finally releases her.

"Thanks for the save, guys," Ruby remarks, rolling her shoulders.

"Anytime. What did that creep want, anyway?" Jaune asks.

Ruby shrugs. "Honestly, I have no idea. He just told me he was really impressed with my skills. It was pretty weird."

"Yeah…" Yang leads off.

Ruby turns to her. "Something up, Yang?"

Her sister scratching the back of her ear sheepishly and remains quiet for a moment. "You know that rumour going around? The one about how the student council president and Watts might be… dating?" she asks.

"Pyrrha? Are you sure it's her they're talking about?" Jaune asked skeptically.

Yang raises a brow. "Do you know her?"

He nods. "Yeah. We were friends back in middle school. When we came here we got put in different classes and just kind of… drifted apart," he shrugs-as if to say 'that's that'-and shakes his head. "Anyway, I find it kind of hard to believe that's true. She's always been really shy-especially when it comes to romance-so I doubt she would end up settling for _Watts_ of all people."

Yang exhales harshly. "Alright, fair enough, but that's not exactly what I was getting at."

Jaune looks back to her, confused. "I don't follow," he tells her, and Ruby nods along, just as lost.

Yang sighs and her expression softens. "I'm sorry… it's just this feeling I can't shake. I mean, you told us all about what Watts was doing to his male students, and I can't help but ask… what he might have been doing to the girls…"

Jaune pales. "I-If what your implying is true… then… has he taken an interest in-!"

"Me…" Ruby interrupts, stopping in her tracks. Her face scrunched and she suddenly feels the need to vomit. Just the idea of a teacher… it made her feel wrong all over. "Oh god…" she mumbled. Covering her mouth with her hand.

"Hey, I hope I'm wrong for both our sakes… but if I'm not-"

"-Then it means we need to put down Watts even more. That sick bastard," Jaune swore, balling his hands into fists. Ruby takes and breath and forces herself to calm down. If Yang _was_ right, it didn't really mean much right now. It was disgusting, no doubt about that, but he wasn't threatening her directly. _If Yang is right, though… I can't even imagine what the other students here must have been through._

Ruby shakes her head. "W-we can't dwell on this now. We've gotta do what we can to help the rest of the students here, and we're wasting time talking about this," she declares, and even she can tell she doesn't sound sure of herself.

Yang watches her worriedly, but Jaune is quick to accept it. "Ruby's right. Let's get this started, everyone."

They enter the school.

…

"Hey, you're on the academic Decathlon team, right?"

"Uh, yeah, I was. Why are you asking?" the student replies, shifting away from Ruby nervously.

"Well… I was kind of wondering why you might have those bruises?" she asks. She's been doing this for close to a half hour now, she's not about to mince words.

The student looks around shiftily. "They're from s-some guys! Yeah… some guys just started pounding on me for their own amusement. It was wild…" he leads off, not very sure of himself.

"You're sure they're not from Watts?" she accused bluntly.

"Th-that's preposterous! Why would you even suggest that?!"

Ruby growls as she feels her frustration mounting. _You know what? Screw it, it's clear this guy is just as useless as the others_. "What do think you're going to get by doing this? One of the teachers here is _beating_ you-and other students!-what do you think you're gonna gain by lying about it. I mean, you might as well try to do something about it instead of wallowing in pain!" she cries out. The guy looks frightened out of his mind, and Ruby sighs. If she stays here any longer, she's most definitely gonna cause a scene. She shakes her head and walks away, finding solace in a little spot by the stairs. She pulls out her phones and messages her friends.

_**Ruby: **__Nothing. Please tell me you guys have some good news._

_**Yang: **__If only we were so lucky. Everyone's keeping their lips shut about the whole damn thing, it's ridiculous._

_**Jaune: **__Yeah, I don't have anything either. Worst than that is I can't remember anyone else from Watts castle._

_**Ruby: **__So we have no one left who could talk?_

_**Jaune: **__Seems that way…_

_**Yang: **__Shit. This sucks. What are we supposed to do now?_

_**Jaune: **__I've got nothing right now. You guys?_

_**Yang: **__Nope_

_**Ruby: **__Natta_

_**Jaune: **__Well crap. How about we meet in the courtyard and try to come up with a plan?_

_**Ruby: **__Sounds good. See you there_

_**Ruby has left the chat…**_

She sighed and slipped her phone into her pocket. After that Ruby starts making her way to the courtyard. As she does, her thoughts can't help but wonder. This whole situation… it just seemed so unreal. Ruby had heard about stories like these, obviously, but she never expected to be a part of one. She suddenly thinks back to some of her favorite teachers. How they were friendly and understanding and even made her laugh. _All of them had private lives… things they did outside of school and their career. If I knew what those were, would I respect them the same way? Or would it make me… scared, of them._

She sighs and pushes the door open, coming into the school's courtyard and resting at the small sitting area. She makes her way by one of the vending machines and pulls out her wallet, looking at the selection and wondering what she should buy.

"Um, excuse me," a voice announces behind her.

Ruby turns around, unsure if this person was talking to her. Surprisingly enough, the girl named Nikos stands behind her, dressed in the same gym uniform as she is. Ruby is startled by her appearance, but doesn't want to be rude. "Oh, um, hey," she blurts out.

The girls approaches her. "May I speak with you for a second?"

"Sure. What's up?" she asks in turn.

Nikos looks around, as if checking to see if someone else is there. "There, um, there have been some rumours going around… that you have been acting against Watts…" she lead off.

Ruby crosses her arms and looks off to the side. "There are a lot of rumours about me and my sister. Most of them aren't true, you know," she deflected.

She looks down shamefully, and Ruby is almost tempted to say something to try and reassure her. "You're right… I'm sorry if things have been difficult for you. But I guess that's in some way my fault," she apologizes.

Ruby's gaze softens, the girls honesty having taken her off guard. "Hey, you don't have to do that. You can't exactly make people change their minds like that," she jokes. Her eyes widen in realization. _Changing people's minds… isn't that what Morgana said we could do with Watts?_

Nikos shakes her head. "Maybe you're right… but as the student council president, it's my job to make sure every student has the best experience they can, right?"

"I don't know… it's not really my place to say. I've never been a part of something like that, after all," she remarks.

She fidgets for a second, and when she looks back at Ruby her gaze is form. "I-I want to ask again. Are you taking action against Watts? Or trying to?"

Ruby doesn't look at her, unsure whether she should say anything or not. Thankfully she's saved from having to chose whenever Jaune and Yang come waltzing in. "Hey Rubes! How's it going?" Yang asks energetically.

"Pyrrha? What are you doing here?" Jaune asked, walking in beside her sister.

"Jaune…? I didn't know you two knew each other," she tells him.

Jaune regards her almost suspiciously and crosses his arms. "Yeah, well, I guess we kinda got to know each other. What do you want with Ruby, anyway?" he asks.

"I… we were just talking, is all," she deflects. There's a strange tension in the air, and Ruby isn't sure why that is. Jaune had said him and Pyrrha used to be close friends, but now they almost seemed hostile toward each other.

"Hey guys, it's okay. We're all good here, right?" Ruby interjects, decided to enter the conversation.

Her words seem to snap the two of them out of their trance. "Yes, of course. I-I suppose I'll see you around," Pyrrha finishes before stiffly walking away. Similar to when they first met, the interaction leaves Ruby feeling… weird. _Can't anything in my life just make sense? _She laments.

Jaune shakes his head and turns back to them. "Sorry about that. Anyway, we came here to try and figure out what to do about Watts, right?"

Ruby nods along. "Yeah… but what is that? It feels like nobody actually wants to stand up to Watts. I don't get it."

Jaune sighs. "I do. Or, I understand the mentality, anyway. Watts is a bastard and an asshole, but he's not stupid. My guess is he convinces his victims that the only way they'll be able to succeed is through him."

"But that's total bullshit!" Yang exclaimed.

Jaune looked away. "Not entirely… getting into a good college nowadays is hard work, and having someone as respected as Watts recommend you is a pretty big blessing." He turned back to them, and his eyes flared with life. "But that doesn't make what he's doing right. It just shows he's even more of a depraved bastard."

"I-I can't believe it. Manipulating someone like that… especially if they're younger than you," Ruby mutters, shaking her head.

"H-hey there. Can I talk to you for a second?" a voice asks. The three of them whip towards it, having been so invested in their own conversation. Standing there is a boy with dark skin and black hair. He has emerald eyes and wears the Beacon uniform sans blazer.

Jaune seems to recognize him. "Oscar? What do you need, man?"

Oscar waves him off. "I-I actually needed to talk to her," he said, pointing at Ruby.

Ruby tilts her head in confusion. "Me? What do you need with me?" she asks.

The boy fidgets uncomfortably. "U-um. Well, Watts told me he wanted you to come to his room…" he finished defeated.

All three of them tensed up. "No. No way. Tells Watts she's not going. And if he tries to say otherwise tell 'em he can kiss me ass," Yang growled, pulling an arm around her protectively.

"I'm with Yang on this one. There's no way I'm about to let someone else get victimized," Jaune declared.

Oscars eyes widened. "You're still gonna try to fight him?"

Jaune's gaze softened. "I know I failed you, man, but I'm not going to give up again. I'm going to make it work this time. He's gonna pay, I promise," he declared.

Oscar sighed, "You're wasting your time, man. You don't have any proof, at least not anything that the school's gonna act on," he criticized.

He bit his lower lip, struggling to find the words to say. "That's-"

"So what, you just forget about it? Pretend it doesn't exist and go about your day?" Ruby asked, and there was a hardness in her tone. "Maybe _you _can do that. Maybe you've convinced yourself that it's impossible and there's no point, but I'm not like that. It doesn't matter if we don't have any proof right now, or that we're lost. I'd rather take a chance on something than never try to make change at all!"

Her eyes widened with realization, and she looked at the ground. _Take a chance… yeah, that could work. _Her eyes hardened and she looked back at Oscar. "Tell Watts I'll be there soon." Everyone is surprised at her declaration, but after Oscar looks at her eyes he's quick to get a move on.

"What the hell was that?! No way are you going to that asshole!" Yang cried, throttling her.

"Why would you say that? What's your plan?" Jaune asked, totally lost.

Ruby detached herself from her sister and regarded the two of them. "Guys, this is exactly the kind of opportunity we need. We haven't been able to get at Watts through his other victims… so maybe we need one of our own," she explained.

Yang's eyes widened. "Wait. Hold the 'effin phone. Are you saying the plan is to _intentionally_ get beaten by Watts so we can get him arrested? What on earth made you think this was a good idea!?"

"There's no way in hell I'm gonna let you do this, Ruby."

Something in Ruby _snaps._

"Will you just shut up and _listen _for a goddamn second! I'm not just gonna walk in there and let him kick the shit out of me! _Here's _the plan. You guys call my phone and I'll leave it on speaker while I'm in there. Then, you guys record the audio while I talk with Watts and get him to reveal his true colors. When he admits it, we'll have everything we need to put him away for good!"

Both of them are silent for a good few seconds. After a while, Yang ventures to speak. "Ruby… I'm sorry, but I still don't like this. You're putting yourself at risk, and for something that may not even work! How do even plan on getting him to confess. I mean, this guy didn't even get caught when Jaune brought evidence directly to Ozpin. I'm not gonna let you get hurt, Ruby. We'll find a better way…"she added softly.

Ruby steeled her gaze. "But that's just the thing, isn't it? We're not talking about going to Ozpin. We're taking this to the police, and they'll _have_ to take this seriously if we come to them with solid evidence of Watts' crimes!" she pleaded.

Jaune shook his head. "I can't agree to this either. Yang's right; even disregarding the _huge_ risks involved, we have no surefire way of getting him to actually confess."

Ruby sighed and looked to the floor. "I'd rather take a chance on something than never try to make change at all… that's what I told Oscar, and it's time I put those words into action!" she declared.

"But Ruby-!"

"_Look._" Ruby interjected, cutting of her sister. "I'm gonna do this whether you want me to or not, so do you wanna take a risk and help me or do nothing?"

Jaune and Yang look at her disapprovingly. "Like that's even a choice," Yang growls lowly.

Jaune sighs and crosses his arms. "I still don't like this, but I meant what I said about not letting their be another victim; I'll back your play here, Ruby."

She lets out a small sigh of relief and smiles at her friends. "Okay. Let's do this."

…

Watts is sitting behind his desk when Ruby enters.

She slides the door closed behind her and faces the teacher, trying to keep her expression neutral. This man… despite her limited interaction, she felt as if she had known him for years. She suddenly feels a lot more vulnerable having come here in her gym uniform. It's a simple outfit which consist of a white t-shirt and dull red sweatpants. The outfit isn't even very revealing, but Yang's theories about Watts' crimes against women haven't left her mind. Ruby tries not to focus on that right now and simply approaches the older man.

"Mr. Watts. You asked to see me?"

He smiled at her, and Ruby feels her skin crawl. "Ah! Ms. Rose, or do you mind if I call you Ruby?" he asked.

She crossed her arms and looked away uncomfortably. "I guess not…"

He stands up and walks around his desk, removing the small barrier between them. She isn't in any immediate danger, but Ruby really wishes he would move back behind his desk. "Well then Ruby. I'm glad you came so quickly. You see, I could use your help," he explained.

Ruby cocked one eyebrow. That… was a surprisingly bland request. "I'm not doing anything right now, so I don't mind lending a hand. What do you need me to do?"

Watts leaned against his desk, seeming visibly relieved. "That would be very much appreciated. You see, I need you help moving some things around in my room. After seeing your amazing performance today, I knew a natural athlete like yourself would be just the one for the job," he clarified. The compliment didn't go missed by Ruby. _He's trying to butter me up with flattery…_

Ruby tries her best to fake a smile. "Oh, that doesn't sound to hard. Where do you want me to start?" she asks. Watts doesn't immediately answer and instead walks over to a part of his room filled with cardboard boxes and other miscellaneous science tools.

"I could use your assistance when it comes to getting these back into my storage closet," he tells her, and gestures to the boxes.

"Sure, no problem," she responds. She bends down to pick one up and feels eyes on her. _Classy. And subtle,_ she thinks with a roll of her eyes. She picks up her box and starts making the small sojourn between it and the closet.

"I'm curious, Ruby. How old are you now?" Watts asks. She knows it's supposed to be innocent small talk, but knowing what she does the question feels incredibly invasive.

"Sixteen. I'll be seventeen this fall," she says curtly, placing the box on the floor. She turns around to see Watts setting one down next to her.

"Interesting," he comments, and Ruby represses a shudder. "And how long have you been running now?"

Ruby looks at him sideways as she walks back to the boxes. "I've been doing track since middle school, but I've enjoyed running for as long as I can remember," she answers.

"Well you certainly have the body to compliment your efforts. Most of my other students would struggle to cart these things around," he remarks, smiling at her.

"Haha… I guess so," she laughs off awkwardly. She rubs her shoulders comfortingly, feeling violated.

Watts chuckles, and the sound almost reminds her of Igor's laugh. "There's no need to feel modest. I feel it's the mark of a fine woman." This time Ruby actually _does_ shudder. She's glad all of this is being recorded, because she was pretty sure that fell under sexual harassment. She does her best to ignore the teachers comment and reaches down to grab another box. When she stands, Watts abruptly intercepts her and takes hold of the box. "I'm sorry, but this box contains rather fragile equipment. I'd feel better handling it myself," he explains. Ruby is quick to relent, but she doesn't miss how he runs his hands along her arms when he takes the equipment.

The contact only last for a second, but it makes her feel like she needs a shower. _Alright, enough postulating. It's time to go on the offensive,_ she realizes. "I'm surprised you wanted my help. You know, with all the scary rumours surrounding me," she mentions offhandedly.

Watts regards her suspiciously. "I remember I told you before that I don't let things like that change my perception."

Ruby shrugs-an awkward gesture considering she's holding another box-and looks at the older man. "I know, and I appreciate that. It's just that I don't seem to be the only one who has some nasty rumours surrounding them…"

Watts' expression noticabley drops. His gaze suddenly seems a lot more guarded and shifty. "Do you mean to say students are saying unseemly things about me? That's hardly cause for concern," he dismisses.

Ruby sets another box down before replying. "Yeah, I agree, but some of the things people are saying… well, they have me a bit worried is all."

"Well what kinds of things are they saying?" he asks. Ruby would smirk is she could right now, but works to keep her concerned expression.

"I heard that you… beat students; the ones who were on the decathlon team, and that's why it got suspended," she stated bluntly. She watched his reaction carefully, trying to find any tells.

Watts scoffed and shook his head, not even trying to hide his distaste. "No doubt you've heard such fallacies from Arc. You may consider him something of a friend, but believe me when I tell you that boy is nothing but a nuisance."

"That's kinda harsh. I mean he was the captain of the team, right?" she mentions offhandedly. _Come on! Give me something useful._

Watts chuckles and shakes his head. "And a mediocre one at best. He only ever served himself and never thought of the team. I mean I had to single-handedly take over the operation to even give them a shot at nationals, and then he sought to deface me out of jealousy. He really is nothing but a shameful man." His gaze turned to her, and the grin he sported put Ruby on guard. "A beautiful young woman such as yourself should have nothing to do with him."

Ruby tries to keep neutral despite the alarming comment. _Wait a minute…! That's how I'll get him to slip up!_ Ruby leans off to one side and twirls one finger in her hair. "You really think I'm pretty?" she asks, putting on her best ditzy voice.

Watts' previously tense posture relaxes and he moves back behind his desk. "Of course. Anyone who laid eyes on you would say you're a natural beauty, and with your physical training you only appear that much more appealing," he complimented.

Ruby made her way over to him. "It makes me blush when you say it like that," she comments, leaning against the inside of his desk. She's being very careful with her words; she knows if she slips up it'll make her sound culpable in Watts' actions, and with her previous record she's not about to risk that. Watts looks relieved, comfortable even, as if this was a situation he was familiar with. _You disgusting leach… Yang was right about you…_

And then his hand clasps her breast.

Ruby lurches back with a vengeance, glaring hatefully at the teacher before her. She'd been so caught up in thought she hadn't noticed him reaching for her. "Just where the hell do you think you're touching!?" she screams, covering herself with her arms.

Watts' look of excitement morphs into a twisted grin. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean," he drawls.

Despite her hate and fury-or maybe because of it-Ruby meets his maddened grin with one of her own. Her hand flashes into her pocket and produces her phone. She faces the screen at him and exclaims. "Don't look so smug! This is your undoing, you idiot! I had our whole conversation recorded, and I'm gonna take this to the police so you get put away for a long time!"

Watts' eyes widen and his jaw drops.

The expression only lasts for a second, however, before he starts chuckling madly. He reaches into his desk and takes out a small black device. When his thumb slams on the top of it Ruby's phone abruptly erupts into sparks of electricity. She yelps and drops it, the device bouncing once against the floor before settling. Watts stands and shakes his head, laughing all the while.

"I'll admit, I never would've guessed _this_ is the scheme you'd cook up when I heard you were associating with that fool Arc. Still, it looks like you're efforts were in vain," he cackles, tossing the device up and down in his hand. "Foolish as that boy may have been he _did_ teach me a valuable lesson… 'I am not safe'. When he confronted me with that damn Oscar's injuries I quickly realized that I couldn't afford to be lax when it came to my more… private activities."

"What the hell did you do to my phone?!" Ruby cries, ignoring his pointless monologue.

Watts properly regards her. "_That_, my dear little Ruby, is where this comes in," he comments, presenting the device. "It's a short range EMP that's great for knocking things like phones out of the equation," he explains with a sort of twisted glee.

"W-why the hell would a teacher even _have _that?"

Watts rolled his eyes. "For situations like _this_, obviously. I'll admit I never expected to use it like this but it appears it was a rather fruitful purchase. Know that your smartphone has been scrambled and your call cut off, you can't possibly hope to recover that recording of our time together." He looks her up and down, and his gaze is a lot more leechorous. "Although if I may; you're _incredibly_ well-developed for someone your age. If you hadn't crossed me as such I imagine I would've had _so much fun_ with you…"

Ruby grits her teeth and growls. _W-was this really all for nothing…?_

…

Jaune _slams_ the door to Watts' room open. "Ruby!" he cries.

The scene he and Yang step into is a lot less dire than he'd imagine. Watts and Ruby stand a good few feet apart with Ruby's phone resting on the floor. They're both clearly surprised by his entrance, but when Jaune see's Watts and considers what he'd just heard, he sees red. The distance between them is closed before Yang's halfway through the door. He takes Watts by the collar and pulls him down to his level.

"You sick depraved bastard! What the hell did you just do!?" he shrieks.

Watts' smug satisfaction only makes Jaune want to rip into him more. "I have no idea what you're referring to Mr. Arc. I simply asked a student to assist me with storage, and now you appear to be threatening me. I can't imagine this will look very good to the teachers," he drawls.

His words only heighten Jaune's rage. He knows Watts is right, with the recording gone they now have no evidence against him, and if it came down to who's word the school listened to, it would be Watts' every single time. Still, for once in his life Jaune can't force himself to think rationally. To stop and consider all his options before picking the most logical one. No… right now, he _wants _to do something damn irrational. _Even if I can't stop him… I want to make sure he won't ever forget me._

His fist rears back to punch Watts in the face-

-Only to be caught before he can unleash his rage.

Jaune whirls around, wondering who it could possibly be that would try to stop him. His anger vanishes when he's sees Ruby. She wraps one hand tightly around his wrist while the other hangs clenched at her side. She faces downward, and her bangs cloud her eyes from view. "Ruby… Why? Why stop me…?" he can't help but ask.

Ruby looks up, and the fire in her eyes freezes him in place,

"There's no point Jaune. It won't solve anything, and it won't stop him." She leans forward and whispers into his ear. "Don't forget, we still have _options_." Jaune's eyes widen in realization and he releases Watts' involuntarily. _She's right… the Metaverse._

Watts scoffs and pushes him away, putting some distance between them. "I must say this was the greatest attempt I've seen by anyone to stop me, but I think it's time all of you learned something. You have no power in this world. Adults will always win against petulant brats like yourself," he declares as he moves to sit behind his desk. "Everyone here will be _expelled_ by the time of the next board meeting. I hope you've enjoyed your time here, because it won't be lasting for much longer."

"What?! You can't do that!" Yang cries, her eyes burning with rage.

Watts chuckles again. "You'd better believe I can. This school is my castle, and I'm the king!" he declares maliciously.

"Is that so…?" Ruby voice rings out, cutting through the fog like a bullet. "Your reign is about to end, 'king' Watts. I hope you're ready to face your crimes… because _it's. Showtime."_ Ruby turns and makes to leave, and Jaune fumbles to follow her. He'd be lying if he said her declaration didn't frighten him a little, even though he wasn't the target.

As Yang is getting ready to leave, she glares at the teacher and says. "I looking forward to seeing you burn."

The three of them leave the science room and enter the halls of Shujin academy. They've never felt more oppressing in Jaune's mind then they are now. He shakes off such silly thoughts and turns his attention to the girl before him. "Ruby… are you-?"

"I'm fine, Jaune. He only copped a feel before I stopped him, and honestly, I'm only more horrified for his other victims now…" she explains.

"That rat bastard… I'll tear her apart for even _thinking_ to touch my sister," Yang growls.

"Yeah… guys, I know what we need to do now," she declares, turning on the both of them.

"I think I know where you're going with this… the Metaverse, right? You want to steal Watts' heart?" Jaune asks.

Ruby nods. "Exactly. It's pretty damn obvious now that Watts isn't going down through normal means, but now more than even it's clear to me that he needs to be stopped."

Yang's expression softens noticeably when she looks back at her sister. "Okay Ruby… you know I'm with you, but after what just happened you can't seriously expect to start running around that place. I mean you've just suffered a serious traumatic event and you need time to process-"

"No, Yang. I'm fine, really, and the more time we waste the closer we get to expulsion. I won't let anyone else suffer under that madman; we have to stop him!" she pleads. Jaune isn't fooled by her talk, though. Ruby may not even realize it right now, but she was seriously hurting. He couldn't even imagine what it was like to be betrayed by someone like that, especially someone that's supposed to be further your development as a person! She needed time to process the things she had just went through, and forcing her through a deadly castle in an attempt to steal someone's heart was not gonna help do that.

Let an emotionally unstable girl run around through a deadly castle?

_Fuck. That._

"No. Yang is right Ruby; we need time, _you_ need time," Jaune tells her.

"Jaune…" her look of hurt pains Jaune, but he refuses to let it get to him.

"Hey, I have other reasons for this too," he lied. "Remember what Morgana told us about Palaces? They are intrinsically tied to what a person thinks and experiences in the real world. So you'd better believe security there would be at an all time high after we just made an attempt at putting him in jail. Exploring the Palace now would be way to dangerous. We have _some_ time, so let's give it a couple days and _then_ begin our infiltration," he rambles. He doesn't even know if half the things he says are true, but he sure as hell makes them _sound_ true. Judging from Ruby's reaction, she actually believes him, something which he's incredibly grateful for.

She sighs heavily. "Dammit… you're probably right. Fine, we wait, but only for a couple days!" she cries.

Jaune nods. "Of course," he tells her. His and Yang's eyes meet for a second, and she nods at him. He half-heartedly returns it and looks off to the side.

"Let's put this son of a bitch down. By any means necessary," Yang grounds out, some of her previous fire returning.

"No," Ruby interjects, capturing their attention. "I said before that I'm not a murderer, and I sure as hell don't want to become one now. We're gonna be taking every precaution possible to ensure that doesn't happen," she tells them. Jaune's eyes widen. The fact that someone who not five minutes ago had been Watts' victim was the one telling them this surprises and impresses the hell out of Jaune. He wouldn't have blamed her for wanting to take that extra step… but she hadn't. Ruby turns to him and smiles. "We should head home for the day. I'll see you tomorrow Jaune."

"Yeah, see you…" he mumbles out as they walk away. As they do, Jaune can't help the massive wave of guilt that washes over him. Over and over and over and over and over again! How many times was Watts gonna get away with stuff behind his back.

_I promised that there wasn't gonna be another victim… and I was wrong… _

**A.N: That was… pretty goddamn dark. I wanted Ruby to directly suffer from Watts' actions instead of just hearing about them. Not a whole lot to say other than that, really. Anyway next chapter will be dealing with the fallout from this. Please R & R.**


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